


In the Aftermath

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-11-24
Updated: 2008-11-24
Packaged: 2019-05-15 05:16:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 35,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14784237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: Post Gaza story





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

~PROLOGUE~ 

“Andie just saw people being put in ambulances; that’s all she knows.” 

Andrea Wyatt heard the shaky voice of her ex-husband coming through her cell phone. Reception was spotty at best. In fact, she was stunned she even got through. She looked around at the insanity around her. Try as she might to avoid looking, her eyes were constantly drawn to the overturned Suburban. The Israeli Army had put up a staunch wall of soldiers around it now and were no longer letting the press near, fiercely protecting their American alleys. 

“Yeah, you’d better.” Andie grumbled at the circle of men that could not hear her. The security company they were traveling with were standing like sharpshooters on top of the other Suburban, protecting the uninjured members of the delegation and waiting for Army assistance to get the delegates out of there. Andie actually felt a little more comfortable in their presence, since the laws governing them were a little looser and didn’t fall under the constraints of the Geneva Convention. Normally, this wasn’t an ideology Andie aligned herself with, but given the fact that she’d just been personally bombed, she was okay with it for the moment. 

Andie turned back in the direction of the overturned car. 

“Wait a minute, Toby.” she said as her eye caught the commotion by the rear passenger door. 

“We’re bringing her out. Watch her leg!” called a medic. HER? Andie thought. The only HER in that car was Donna, incidentally, the only other HER on the trip. She thought everyone was gone. 

“They’re taking Donna out of the car now. Is Josh still by you?” 

“No. He went into his office and slammed the door.” Toby replied. 

“Well, get in there!” Andie shouted as she hurried back over to the car. The medics were gingerly laying Donna on a stretcher and stabilizing her leg which looked...oh dear God, Andie couldn’t look at it. Andie thought Toby must now be in Josh’s office because she could hear him yelling in the background. No doubt threatening the Israeli Embassy for information. 

“Josh, Andie’s got Donna.” 

“DONNA!” came Josh’s frantic voice. 

“Hold on, Josh.” Andie said. “I’m just getting over to her now. They’re putting her on a stretcher.” 

Donna let out a blood curling scream as the medic splinted her leg. Andie could only imagine how that felt. 

“That wasn’t her, was it?” Josh demanded. “What the hell is going on, Andie!?” 

“She hurt her leg, Josh.” Andie hurried. “They were stabilizing her leg.” Andie pushed her way through all the soldiers near the stretcher until she got to Donna’s head. “I’m Congresswoman Wyatt with the delegation.”she announced. “I have the White House on the phone.” Most of the soldiers next to her moved back, except for the medics. When she looked down at Donna, Donna was barely coherent. 

“Josh?” Donna asked deliriously. “Josh?” 

“Donna, it’s me, Andie.” Andie said trying to get into Donna’s line of sight and bringing her phone near Donna to try to coax her into talking to him. 

“Andie,” Donna repeated. “Toby’s Andie. Toby’s with Josh. Josh?” 

“Josh is on the phone, Donna.” Andie explained, holding it to her ear. 

“He is, what does he need?” 

Andie could hear Josh calling Donna’s name through the phone. “Josh?” Donna asked again through her haze. “Are you here, Josh? Josh?” Donna’s eyes closed. 

“We have to move her now, ma’am.” the medic said, and Andie moved back. 

“Where?” Josh demanded. “Where are they moving her?” 

“Where are you going?” Andie demanded. 

“They’ll stabilize her and fly her to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center or Ramstein.” the medic replied. 

“Germany?” Josh asked. 

“Yeah.” Andie breathed into the phone. 

“What’s going on with her, Andie?” Josh asked quietly. “How did she look?” The security agency had come over to escort Andie to the other waiting car as more Israeli military showed up to provide escort. 

“Well, Josh, at the moment, she looks like hell.” Andie said. Andie didn’t know Josh as well as the others, so she didn’t realize what saying something like that would do to him. “She’s got blood on her face and all over her; I think it’s from her leg. Her leg looked pretty bad. But you know how this stuff goes, Josh. Everything always looks way worse right after it happens.” But she didn’t really believe that. Donna’s leg looked....sickening. 

“Andie, can you call me back when you know where they’re going?” Josh pleaded. Obviously, the Israeli government would be updating the President and Leo consistently, but Josh couldn’t wait for the information to get through channels to him. 

“I will, Josh.” Andie promised, climbing into her assigned Suburban with a shudder. The wall of soldiers opened up, and accompanied by many Humvees and a helicopter, the remaining delegation sped away. 

TBC


	2. In the Aftermath

Donna struggled to remain conscious, but she drifted in and out. She was vaguely aware of being in some sort of airborne transportation. But why, she didn’t know. She remembered pain, but not the cause of it, and the pain was gone now. If she had been more coherent, she would take notice of the flight nurse dropping lines in her arms to give her drugs to dull the pain and help her sleep. She’d see them gingerly cover the bleeding over the area of her leg where the bone was protruding. She’d feel the oxygen mask over her face. 

But she didn’t notice any of that. Everything was hazy to her...except the sound of his voice. The sound of him frantically calling her name rang clearly in her ears. He sounded hysterical. What was he so worked up about? 

She obviously wasn’t at work, and she knew enough right now to know that she must be sick. Did she forget to call him? Maybe he was mad at her. Maybe that’s why he sounded so upset. He rarely got mad at her though. Well, if that was the case, Donna felt bad. She hadn’t intended to worry him. This past year he’d gotten a little more dependant on her professionally and emotionally. It was a tough year for them. He’d sent her on the trip to help her grow in her job. 

The trip! That was it! That’s where she was! Did she eat something bad? Why did she feel this badly? Had she forgotten to call him? Something wasn’t right. 

When she fell asleep again, she still heard his voice, desperately yelling to her, trying to get to her, but never quite making it. Try as she might, she couldn’t figure out why he needed to get to her so damn badly. What was so important? 

She didn’t know how long she had slept, but when she woke again, she felt more coherent. It was obvious to her that she was in a helicopter. She still had no memory of what had happened and what her purpose for being there was, but she knew she was the patient. 

The nurse asked her questions. Where did it hurt? Nowhere, actually. Who was the President of the United States? That seemed like a pretty trivial question to her, but she answered. 

“I need a phone.” she croaked out softly. 

“I’m sorry?” the flight nurse asked leaning in closer. “I couldn’t hear you over the engine.” 

“I need a phone. I have to call him.” she said again. 

“I’m sorry. You can’t use a cell phone here.” the nurse shook her head apologetically. “You’ll never hear anyway.” 

“You don’t understand.” she said. Why was it so hard to speak? “He’ll be out of his mind. I have to talk to him; he has to hear my voice. He won’t calm down until he does.” 

“I’m sorry, honey, but we don’t have any cell phones. All we have is our radio. This is a military medical transport.” 

Donna tried to insist they give her a phone to call Josh. If she told them she was calling the White House, would they believe her? She tried to fight harder. She tried to ask where she was going and what was wrong with her, but her eyes wouldn’t cooperate. 

She drifted back off to sleep, hoping he’d forgive her for not calling. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

He opened up his email for the third time in as many hours. He reread each one, willing himself to find some kind of comfort in her words. But none would come. 

He slammed his laptop shut again and dropped his heads to his hands. The flight attendant came by and asked if he wanted a drink. They’d been unusually attentive to him specifically. The White House must have called the airline. There was no other explanation for it. 

Did he want a drink? He wanted ten drinks! He was in a frozen hell, and he wanted to drink himself into a brainless haze where he didn’t have to think; didn’t have to hear her anguished scream anymore. His name echoing incoherently from her lips over the crappy connection of Andie’s cell phone was playing like a soundtrack in his mind to the image of the overturned Suburban. 

Thank God for Andie. Thank God she was there long enough to see Donna. The information he had gotten about her since had been sketchy at best. He knew one thing, only that she was alive. 

And had asked for him. 

He was half a planet away when she wanted him, needed him; a dilemma he was rectifying at that moment. He had boarded a plane five hours after he’d first talked to her. 

He left his job behind. He’d wondered briefly if he would even have a job when he got back. Leo let him come to Germany, but now the cat was most definitely out of the bag. But Leo didn’t insist on him staying at the White House. He let him go. To her. Surely, Leo knew that his actions could be interpreted many different ways? He must have considered that Josh would take that as permission to finally pursue Donna. 

Because there was just no way that Josh was going to land in Germany and NOT tell her he was in love with her. Not after this. Not after whatever higher being was controlling them gave him this sucker punch to the chest. 

They had been drifting, he and Donna. At first, he thought nothing of it. That tended to happen when one of them was dating and he’d done, well, whatever that was, with Amy again. But he discovered they were drifting apart and it seemed like no matter what he tried, it wouldn’t work, it wasn’t good enough. 

It had become obvious that at this point, there was only one thing they wanted from each other. Work wasn’t good enough anymore; friendship wasn’t good enough for them anymore. There was only way they could go. If they couldn’t forward, they were going to break apart. This wasn’t working for her anymore. It was obvious. He couldn’t have her leave him. It would kill him. He literally believed that. 

He couldn’t exist without her. He had to tell her. 

TBC


	3. In the Aftermath

“You’re still here.” 

“Yeah. I’m still here.” 

Colin Ayers and Lynn Moss watched the scene before them. It was impossible not to be moved by the intimacy of it. They watched as Josh tenderly pulled the blanket up to her chin and tucked it in around Donna. He leaned in and slowly placed a kiss on her forehead. He paused there for a minute before sitting back on the side of the bed and resuming his vigil. 

“Well, that’s fetching.” Colin said softly, without a trace of bitterness in his voice. The devotion Josh had for Donna was glaringly obvious. He tried to hide it, and he was probably usually successful, but he wasn’t this time. 

“Colin,” Lynn began. “You don’t know the whole story here. I’m not sure *I* know the whole story here. But there’s something you have to understand...” 

“That they’re in love with each other and in denial about it?” He grinned in return. The second he saw the look on Josh’s face the first time he met him yesterday, he knew. The man flew half-way around the world to a woman’s bedside with nothing but a passport and laptop and the best he could come up with was “We work together?” And Donna asked for Josh before her surgery. She was facing a dangerous condition, and if she didn’t make it, the last thing she wanted to see before she left this planet was Josh. 

“Well, I don’t think they’re in denial about it.” Lynn muttered. 

“They just think they’re thwarted by Puritanical American workplace ethics.” Colin concluded for the second time in 24 hours. 

“Where they work...” 

“The White House.” he replied. 

“It’s a big deal; it’s a scandal.” 

“Two people in love is a scandal?” Colin asked. 

“What he does reflects on the President.” Lynn replied, realizing she sounded exactly like the broken record her daughter was. 

“President Bartlet doesn’t believe in love? I find that hard to believe.” 

“No, I’m sure it’s not him. Josh takes his job very seriously...” Lynn tried again. 

“Mrs. Moss,” Colin smiled gently. He already knew things weren’t going any further with Donna. He couldn’t be with a woman who so obviously wanted to be with someone else. Never mind they didn’t even live in the same hemisphere. He considered himself worldly enough, and he liked Donna, but he would rather have the fond memories of her. But he felt it catty to bail on her while she was in surgery and not stick around to give her his best wishes. “Josh left his job behind while the White House is facing off a Biblical war. He flew half-way around the world to her bedside without packing a change of clothes. Josh doesn’t take his job nearly as seriously as he takes your daughter.” 

Lynn considered Colin’s words for a minute. She was never sure she approved of, what she thought was, her daughter’s unrequited love for her boss. But she had spent the last few days listening to Josh’s hysterical voice over the phone, and when she saw him in person, she knew that Donna’s feelings were entirely mutual. The devastation written so clearly across his face was heart-wrenching. She had never seen a person will someone else to live. She had never seen the unconditional devotion he showed her in another person before. And after witnessing what she just had, her heart broke for them. She prayed that now that they were realizing the depths of their feelings for each other that they latched on. 

She stepped into the room and called softly to Josh. His head snapped up and she sucked her breath in. His eyes were clearly misty, obviously he was as moved as they were. He cleared his throat and stood up, but made no move to step away from the bed. 

“She woke up.” he said in a hoarse voice. “I told her you were here.” 

Lynn moved closer to her daughter’s bed and smiled down at her, then looked back to Josh.   
“Why don’t you let me sit with her for a little while.” she suggested and smiled when he immediately shook his head no. “Josh, you haven’t eaten, you haven’t slept and you’ve been wearing the same clothes for two days. When she gets a good look at you, she’ll chew you out.” 

“I’m not afraid of Donna, Mrs. Moss.” Josh replied with an uncomfortable glance in Colin’s direction. 

“No. I believe you’re spoiling for a fight with her.” Lynn replied. “But she’s also going to worry about you, which I know you don’t want.” Lynn knew she won when she saw Josh flinch. Yes, she played upon his guilt. She had no other choice. Donna would wake up and worry about Josh, while he was all broken up by her. They were ridiculously co-dependent. But for reasons passing understanding, it worked beautifully for them. 

Josh sighed and ran his hand through his hair, then looked back down at Donna. “What if something happens again and I’m not here?” he said it so quietly, Lynn almost didn’t hear it. 

“You’re in Germany, Josh, you ARE here.” He didn’t look convinced. “And if something’s going to happen, it’s going to happen whether you’re standing right next to her or not. Go get something to eat and change your clothes.” 

“Where?” he shrugged. 

“Josh!” she laughed. “You’re the White House’s Deputy Chief of Staff. ANYONE working on this floor will tell me you have the diplomatic ranking of a three star general. You’re in a military facility. Walk out this door, tell them who you are, and get them to take you to the commissary at Ramstein. I have a hard time believing that at the very least, you left the country without your i.d. Donna says she keeps it in your backpack.” 

“Well, yeah, but...” he trailed off, and looked back down at Donna obviously torn between his need to be with her and his need for a shower. 

“I’m her mother, Josh.” Lynn reminded softly. “Surely, you can trust her in my care.” 

Josh’s head snapped up and he met her gaze. “I didn’t mean...” he began. “It’s just that...she means so much to me.” 

“I know she does. And you mean that much to her, too.” Lynn paused and smiled before continuing. “So, don’t look like crap for her when she wakes up again.” 

Lynn was relieved when Josh finally smiled. She began to see that spark about him that Donna always talked about. He nodded and handed Lynn his card with his cell phone number on it. “You should probably pick her up more roses.” Lynn said softly as he passed. 

“But...” he began with an unsure glance in Colin’s direction. 

“I’ll be taking my leave when she wakes up.” Colin assured. Josh raised his eyebrows in Colin’s direction. “She’s an extraordinary woman, and you’re a lucky man. Treat her well, she loves you.” 

TBC


	4. In the Aftermath

“Don’t you have anything you have to do?” 

Josh snapped his head up from his position in the chair by Donna’s bed at the gravelly voice from within it. It was only the second time he’d seen her awake since her surgery. Lynn said she had woken up for a little while while he was out and asked for him, which made his stomach drop, but Lynn assured him that when she explained where he was, Donna was happy he was taking care of himself. Josh was of a different opinion. 

“Do you need something?” he asked quickly moving into her view. She smiled slowly and relief washed over him. 

“What are you missing at the White House right now?” she asked as she tried to adjust herself a bit in her bed. 

“Do you want me to get a nurse to help you?” he countered. 

“Could you raise the bed a bit more?” she asked, and his finger immediately shot to the button. He raised her up, until she told him it was okay to stop. 

“What else do you need?” he asked lightly. 

“I need you to tell me why you’re not at the White House.” she replied. 

“What the hell would I be doing there?” he retorted. He sounded almost disgusted by the very thought. 

“Trying to figure out who did this and working on a diplomatic solution.” 

“There is no diplomatic solution in this case, Donna. They should be blown off the face of the planet.” 

“Josh.” 

“I told you I’m here as long as I need to be here.” he said quietly. 

“It’s not like you to be vengeful, Josh.” she said. 

“It’s never been you that was attacked before.” 

“You weren’t like that when it was YOU that got attacked.” she countered. 

“You’re different.” he shrugged and looked down, avoiding her gaze. 

“I’m sorry to cause you so much trouble.” she said, and his eyes snapped back to hers. He could see her eyes tearing up. 

“Are you kidding me?” he countered. “Donna, I sent you there and your car got bombed. I’M the one that’s sorry.” 

“Please don’t be that way, Josh.” she pleaded. “It’s not your fault.” 

“I sent you there.” 

“Because I hounded you.” 

“Wanting to grow in your job, Donna, is not hounding me.” he replied. 

“Why did you send me then?” she asked softly. 

“I wanted to see what you could do with it.” he shrugged. “I can give you more responsibility, Donna, but I need to know what you can handle.” 

“And I won’t get to show you now.” she whispered looking down at her leg in traction. 

“Are you kidding?” He laughed softly. “I read your emails. I was so impressed.” Absently, he reached out and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. He sucked his breath in when she closed her eyes and leaned in to his touch. When she opened her eyes, he could swear they looked upon him with desire. He pushed that reaction down and focused on the conversation at hand. “I was really proud of you, Donna.” 

“Yeah?” she asked with a smile. 

“Yeah, I always am.” he nodded. 

“I was so scared.” she whispered. 

“I know.” he blinked, getting choked up again. 

“All I could think about was that I was never going to get to see you again.” Tears were streaming down her face, and he never had to fight so hard to keep himself in check. She just took them across the line, a line he desperately, desperately wanted to cross. She reached out and touched his cheek and he lost his battle and allowed the tears to fall. If he couldn’t cry in front of her, then he couldn’t cry in front of anybody. 

“I couldn’t have handled it, Donna.” he admitted. “I can’t handle it. If you don’t get better...” 

“I will.” she quickly assured. 

“I’m sorry.” he replied. “This is about you; it’s not about me.” 

“Yes, it is, Josh. It IS about you, too. I’ve been in your chair, Josh, remember? This happened to you, just as much as it happened to me.” 

Her strength and conviction were overwhelming. He leaned forward and lightly kissed her forehead. When he pulled back, she took his face and brought his lips to hers. It wasn’t a deep kiss, and for the moment, it lacked passion, but it didn’t lack love. 

Josh’s concern for her physical strength won his inner battle to keep kissing her and pulled back, after all, she did have a collapsed lung, but she held him in place. 

“Don’t stop yet.” she commanded. “You taste like coffee.” 

He chuckled against her lips. “I’ll go drink a gallon of it, Donna, to get you to keep kissing me.” 

“You, after drinking a gallon of coffee?” she asked horrified. “We’ll have to send NASA up to space to get you, you’ll be so high.” 

He trailed his thumb ever so gently along her cheek and looked deeply into her eyes. “Did you see? I got you roses.” 

“They’re beautiful.” she smiled looking towards the windowsill. He sat up and the mood was lightened. That’s when she noticed his attire. 

“What the hell are you wearing?” she demanded. 

He looked down at his running pants and US Army t-shirt and shrugged. “It was the best I could do.” 

“I didn’t know you owned a shirt like that.” she said studying him closely. But he shrugged again and she noticed he was still wearing his suit shoes. “You didn’t bring other shoes?” 

“I must have forgot.” he mumbled. 

“Josh, where IS your bag? Where are you sleeping?” 

“That chair.” he nodded to the chair next to her bed. 

“Where’s your bag?” 

“My backpack is in the corner.” 

“Your suitcase.” 

“Um...my apartment.” 

“You fit everything in your backpack?” 

“No.” 

“Did you BRING another bag with you?” 

“No.” 

“You didn’t bring anything with you?” 

“I didn’t have time.” he said frustrated. “I had to get here! What if you were dying and I was packing? All I knew was that if you were dying, I had to see you again to tell you...” 

Her eyes widened slightly as he drifted off. “Tell me what?” she asked softly. 

“Tell you...” he said again. Suddenly, he felt like his throat was tightening up. What was wrong with him? This is what he came for! He left a room full of dropped jaws to tell her this. 

She smiled again. He let a breath out as he watched the smile go right to her amazing eyes and bring that sparkle back that he loved so much. “I love you, too, Joshua.” she whispered. 

“I was out of my mind, Donna. Literally.” he confessed. “I swear, I was out of control. I tried to keep myself in check, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t breathe right until I saw you. The flight here felt endless. Everyone kept asking me if I needed anything, and I just kept thinking, I need to see Donna, I need to see Donna.” 

“Josh.” she sighed softly with a smile. 

“I never realized...” he trailed off. 

“What?” she asked and he gently shook his head. “That you’re hopelessly in love with me?” Well, come on, who were they if they didn’t banter? 

“No, I knew that.” he smiled. It felt so good to finally get it out. He felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders and he wasn’t running around with this massive secret anymore. 

“What didn’t you realize?” 

“How connected we really are.” 

She smiled slowly and slow warm waves washed over him. He loved putting that smile on her face. He loved finally getting to say the things to her he’d always wanted to say. All the late nights, all the pained looks of longing, all the whispered words when they knew the other couldn’t hear. 

“I’m sorry I never said anything.” he said softly, leaning over to wipe away the tears that had finally escaped. “I should have. I should have a long time ago.” 

“You’re saying it now.” 

Her smiled compelled him to kiss her again. He wanted to spend forever kissing her, but the reality of their situation and lives would be crashing down on them all too quickly, and so he pulled away again. 

“We have a lot to talk about.” she noted when she saw his sad expression. 

“Yeah.” he nodded. 

TBC


	5. In the Aftermath

“I want to be with you, Josh.” Donna said immediately. She didn’t want him to wonder; she didn’t want to give him time to think any differently. Josh was impulsive. She needed to pounce on the moment. 

“Yeah?” He smiled. 

“I’ve only ever wanted to be with you.” 

“You hid it well.” he said with some surprise. 

“So did you.” she shot back. 

“Touche.” he concurred. 

“I don’t want you to leave your job.” he said softly. 

“CJ does.” she scoffed. He furrowed his forehead and his eyes widened. 

“What?” 

“The night of the lockdown.” she began. 

“Yeah.” he prompted. 

“She told me I should leave my job.” she confessed. “She told me that I should do anything that doesn’t center around you.” He stood up and turned away from the bed. He didn’t want her to see his blind anger. How dare CJ say something like that? How dare CJ mess with them like that! He ran a hand down his face and held it there for a moment as Donna continued. “She said you sent me on the CODEL to shut me up and that I had outgrown my job. She said I should go on dates and have one night stands and look for other opportunities that weren’t with you.” 

One night stands, Josh thought ruefully. Well, that explained Colin. He turned back to her. “Is that what you want?” 

“I don’t want one night stands.” 

“A new job?” 

“I DO want to do more, Josh. I can do more.” 

“You never said anything about wanting to actually leave your job, Donna. You’ve only told me that you wanted more responsibility. That’s what the CODEL was.” 

“I know; you said that.” she nodded. 

“I can give you more, Donna, if you want to stay with me.” he said softly. “If you want to do something different...well...I guess I can help you with that, too.” 

“If I stay with you at the White House, can we be together?” 

He smiled. He couldn’t help it. Her decision depended on them as a couple. “I don’t know.” he confessed. “I really don’t. Leo told me I could come here. He saw right through me. Frankly, I kind of saw that as his blessing, but we didn’t really take the time to discuss the working together thing, it was more of a Josh-you’re-imploding-go-to-Germany-kind of thing.” 

“Okay.” she said with a sigh. “Who’s support do we have?” 

“Not CJ’s it sounds like.” 

“CJ will stand at that podium and say whatever Leo tells her to.” Donna replied. “What about Toby?” 

“We’ll have him for the you and me together thing, but I don’t know about the you and me working together thing.” 

“No?” 

“Doubt it.” He sat back on the bed and picked up her hand. “Donna, this decision doesn’t really need to be made yet though.” he said. “If you want to leave your job, you can’t do it until you’re recovered anyway. One, you need the insurance; and two, you need to be mobile to get to interviews and all that.” 

“What about us?” 

“You’re not going to be back to work for a couple of weeks.” he hedged. 

“Do you even want to be there anymore, Josh?” she asked. She was surprised he would be, after the last nine months. 

“I don’t know.” he confessed blowing out a breath. “You’re the only one that made this past year bearable. You’re the only one that stood by me, but an opportunity to really consider leaving it, hasn’t presented itself.” 

“Have you looked?” 

“Not really.” he said shaking his head. He couldn’t allow himself to think about it because he’d have to think about not seeing her every day. He knew they were close; he hoped they’d have stayed friends, but friends wasn’t good enough for them. He wanted more; he wanted this. He was saved from pursuing the line of conversation by his ringing cell phone. He sighed and pulled it out of his pocket. 

“Hello.” he greeted without checking the caller i.d. first. 

“Josh! I...oh my God!” came a familiar voice. 

“Hi, Sam.” Josh smiled in greeting. He looked over at Donna, and she, too, was smiling. 

“I don’t know what...I can’t believe...how is she?” 

“She’s getting better.” Josh said, amazed that Sam, of all people, was at a loss for words over something. 

“You’re sure?” He demanded. 

“I’m sitting right next to her, Sam, yes.” 

“She’s back?” 

“No.” 

“Where are you?” 

“Landstuhl.” 

“You flew to Germany!?” 

“Yes, Sam.” 

“Oh my God! Do you still have a job?” 

“Yes, Sam.” 

“You flew to Germany.” 

“Yes.” 

“That’s really big, Josh.” 

“Yes.” 

“Cat’s out of the bag now.” 

“What cat?” 

“The you love Donna cat.” 

Josh scrunched up his forehead and looked over at Donna, but addressed Sam. “There’s an I love Donna cat?” Donna’s eyes widened. 

“Yeah.” Sam confirmed. “You’re surprised?” 

“A bit.” Josh admitted. “Just out of curiosity, is there a Donna loves Josh cat, too?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Okay, then. At least I’m not alone.” 

“You said you were sitting next to her?” 

“Yes, Sam.” 

“Did she just hear all that?” 

“Yes, Sam.” 

“So, the cat’s REALLY out of the bag.” 

“Yup.” 

“For how long?” 

“About 20 minutes.” 

“Wow! For once, I’ve got some kind of timing!” 

“You really do. Do you want to say hi to her?” 

Josh heard Sam pause, clearly contemplating his answer. “Yes.” Josh handed his cell phone over to Sam and Donna immediately snapped it up. He watched her as she talked with Sam on the phone, about how she was doing, her prognosis, when she was expected to fly back. Josh thought she looked less animated than normal, especially when talking to someone like Sam. Donna always had a smile for Sam. She looked tired. She had been awake for a while, considering she’d recently had surgery. When it became apparent that her energy reserve was draining quickly, Josh rescued the phone and told Sam he’d call him later. 

“You should go to sleep.” he said looking over at her. 

“No.” Her denial was half-hearted though. “I want to stay awake and talk to you. What if I miss an opportunity to kiss you again?” He smiled and leaned in and kissed her in response. 

“Crisis averted.” 

“Josh.” 

“Go to sleep. I’m not going anywhere.” 

“Will you sit by me?” 

“Yeah, I’ll be right here in the chair.” 

“No. I want you to sit over here.” she pouted, patting the bed next to her. 

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” he frowned. 

“It’s the other side.” she pleaded shamelessly. “Please Josh? I’ll sleep better.” 

“You’re playing me right now with the pout.” 

“Is it working?” 

“Yes.” 

She smiled and patted the bed. He sighed and stood up, moving to the other side of the bed, carefully sitting down next to her on the bed and leaning back. She grabbed his hand with both of hers, settled her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. “Much better.” He smiled, turned his head and kissed her forehead. She was asleep in minutes. 

TBC


	6. In the Aftermath

“Donna, I’ll see you in a week.” Josh said gently. Since he told Donna he had to go back to Washington, she’d been crying her eyes out on and off. He felt helpless against her tears, but there was nothing he could do about it. The President wanted him at Camp David, and so far, the President had been awfully understanding and accommodating about Josh’s need to be in Germany. But now it was time to face the world again. 

“I know.” she cried. “I don’t mean to try to make you feel bad. I just can’t seem to stop crying.” 

“Donna, I left when the White House needed me the most.” he said, trying to reconcile it with himself. “I have to go back.” He had told her that he’d be here as long as he needed to be. It was becoming more and more apparent that she needed him to be here still. “If I stay, Donna, it’ll have to come with my resignation. And I’ll do that for you, Donna. I will.” 

“I know you will, Josh.” she smiled. “Which is why I’m not going to let you do it. Really, I don’t mean to get so emotional about it. You can’t resign during the peace talks. I don’t even want to know how that would look in the press.” 

“It’ll look like I’m making a big romantic gesture.” he smiled. “It’ll totally ruin my image.” 

“Well, now we can’t have that.” she said ceasing the tears and smiling back. “I like having your big heart all to myself.” 

“You always have.” he said. 

“I have not.” she shot back. 

“I’ll admit to being nice to other women, maybe even bewitched, but none of them have ever really seen me, Donna, only you.” 

“And now I’m crying again!” she whined. 

“I hate when you remind me how girly you can get!” He groaned with a roll of his eyes. 

“No, I’m all right.” she assured getting herself back under control. “I am.” 

“I’m only kidding, Donna.” he laughed. “I like that you get girly.” He couldn’t believe he’d just admitted it to her because that was probably well received information for her, but he did. She was probably the only woman in his life that wasn’t tough as nails. CJ, Amy, Mandy, Dr. Bartlet, all women that would NEVER show tears, all women that would rather stab their eyes out entirely than show vulnerability to a man, especially a man politically situated like Josh, much less that they needed a man emotionally. Donna was never like that. True, he hated when she cried, but he loved that she trusted him enough to cry in front of him. 

She smiled at him. Reveling in this new Josh by her side, relationship Josh was actually nice, for all the fun she made of him over the years and how bad they’d both claimed to be at relationships. It was now apparent they were bad at relationships with other people. Of course, this relationship was just days old and nurtured in the privacy of a hospital room where no one else but Donna’s mother was around. No press, no senior staff, no Presidents; just them. It always only came down to them. 

“So we need to talk about things.” he said, taking a deep breath. “I have to leave tomorrow and though I’ll call you every single chance I get, the next time I see you will be in Washington.” 

Donna took a deep breath, as well, and nodded her consent to the conversation. 

“You’re going to say we can’t work together anymore.” she nodded in a shaky voice. She felt the hot tears behind her eyes, but refused to let them fall. 

“No!” he said quickly. “I wasn’t going to say that at all. I think if we tell people we’re together that Leo will want to split us up, but if no one knows....” he trailed off and looked at her quizzically. He wasn’t sure how she would handle this particular part of the plan. 

She studied him for a moment. She hated to admit that that was probably the only way. “You think you’re going to be able to keep your hands off me at work?” she tossed at him saucily. 

“No.” he smiled. “But it’s also not unusual for me to have to, you know, converse with you in my office with the door closed, either.” She blushed at what he was suggesting and he bit his tongue on his smart ass remark. He couldn’t recall actually ever having made her blush before, and they’d tossed some pretty inappropriate innuendos at each other over the years. 

“Kay.” she smiled. 

“Okay to what?” 

“Okay to the not telling anybody and the hot and heavy stuff locked in your office.” She couldn’t hold back her laughter when it was his turn to blush. They’d always been about who could take it that one step further. 

“I’m totally not going to be able to concentrate at work now.” he smiled. 

“You’ll summon the restraint from somewhere, I’m sure.” she said patting his hand. “What’s the next thing?” 

“Well, you know how you stayed with me while I recovered?” he hedged. 

“Yeah?” 

“I want you to let me return the favor.” 

She smiled slowly and felt the tears well up again. She couldn’t remember him ever making her cry quite this much. Maybe the diary thing; but that was because she knew she had disappointed him. This was entirely different. 

“Josh, I didn’t do that as a favor.” 

“I know why you did it. It’s the same reason I want to do it.” 

“How are you possibly going to have the time to do any of this?” she asked. “I’m going to have physical therapy during the day --” 

“I’ll drive you.” he nodded. 

“How?” 

“Um...in my car.” 

“No, I mean, how are you going to have the time?” 

“You control my schedule; don’t schedule me anything during that time. It’s not like I can’t bring something to do while you’re in therapy.” 

“Josh...” 

“And I know it’s a foreign language to us, but there is something called personal days and vacation days.” Josh replied. “I’ve heard about it, but I’ve never seen it in action. I think it’s about time I do.” 

She didn’t know what to say. It was probably a first for her. Nobody had ever offered to take care of her before, it was always her taking care of them. She took care of him when he was injured, she took care of Dr. Freeride, nobody took care of her. She loved that he wanted to try. And she was curious to see how he was going to go about it. 

She wiped the tears from her eyes, nodded, and threw her arms around his neck. He held her as tightly as he dared and took a deep breath. She had always held the record for which one of them had done the most for the other. Whenever he allowed himself to think about that dark time when he was injured, he’d always felt better when he thought of how she never left his side, not even when he was horrible to her. 

“I love you, Joshua.” she said quietly into his shoulder. 

He smiled, even though she couldn’t hear it. “I love you, too. And I’ll do anything I have to to get you better. You’ll be by my side in the White House corridors again before you know it.” 

“Mmm...no. I think I’m going to take this opportunity to slow your ass down already.” 

He chuckled into her shoulder. “Good luck with that.” 

TBC


	7. In the Aftermath

Josh slowly walked around Donna’s empty apartment. He’d never been here before without her, and it felt really strange, yet comforting at the same time. He knew his apartment was larger, but thanks to Donna’s meticulous organization, hers seemed more roomy. When her last roommate moved out, she opted not to get another one. It was a bit of a struggle for her, keeping a two-bedroom apartment in the city, but though she complained about how much she made, she was able to handle it, probably because she never took vacation and didn’t spend a lot of money. Josh smiled to himself as he wondered how long it would take once she was up and around for his place to look this organized. 

Things were going to have to be moved around to accommodate the wheelchair she was going to have to be in for a few weeks. She’d put up no small fight about that, but when Josh asked her how she planned on getting around without one with her leg in traction, she had to cede the battle. 

He sat down at the small kitchen table and sorted out the mail, throwing away all the junk mail and putting aside all the bills. Donna was going to kill him when she found out he was paying all her bills, but too bad. 

His cell phone rang and he picked it up with a sigh of defeat. He didn’t want to talk to the White House yet, but he wasn’t going to be able to avoid it for much longer. However, the caller i.d. didn’t read the White House. It was Sam’s number. 

“Hey, Sam.” he greeted. 

“Where ARE you?” Sam replied. 

“Um...Washington?” 

“Yeah. WHERE in Washington? You’re not at the White House.” 

“No. I’m at Donna’s place.” 

“Has she moved since I left? I have the same address.” 

What the hell was with these questions, Josh thought. 

“No. She’s still in the same spot.” 

“Okay. I’ll be there in about ten minutes then.” 

“WHAT?! You’re in Washington?” Josh certainly wasn’t expecting that. 

“What did you think I was going to do? Bail on my friends when they needed me most?” 

“Well....” 

“THAT was a career move, Josh.” Sam shot back. 

“Uh-huh.” Josh was mainly just giving Sam a hard time. At the time, Josh couldn’t imagine anyone leaving the White House to do something else as a career move, but now....well, he could sort of see where Sam was coming from. 

“Okay. Well, let’s focus on the fact that I’m in D.C. right now and not California.” 

“Dinner.” Josh said. 

“What?” 

“You’re on your way here, grab something for dinner. There’s no food here.” 

“Umm...okay.” Sam said and disconnected the call. 

Josh tossed his cell phone back onto the table and pushed all the junk mail into the garbage. Since the garbage was out, he moved to the fridge and threw away everything in it. By the time Sam got there, Josh was making a list of everything he needed to buy and everything that needed to be done to her place for her return. 

“Hey.” Sam greeted opening the apartment door. 

“How’d you get in the building? 

“Neighbor was leaving.” Sam explained putting the paper bags on the table and hugging Josh. Josh wasn’t normally one that accepted hugs from men, but Sam was his best friend, and he had flown to DC to help him out. 

“How long are you here for?” Josh asked him. Sam shrugged and pulled the styrofoam containers out, putting one in front of Josh, and opened two bottles of beer. “I’m here as long as I need to be here.” 

“Well, that’s weird.” 

“What’s weird?” 

“That’s verbatim what I said to Donna when I got to Germany.” 

Sam shrugged again, and Josh pinched him. “Ow! Shit! What was that for?” 

“I wanted to make sure you weren’t a figment of my imagination.” 

“When’s the last time you slept?” 

“I don’t know.” 

“Josh.” 

“Sam, I’ve got like two days before I have to get up to Camp David. When I get back, I might not have a lot of time before Donna comes home. I don’t have a lot of time for sleep. I’ll sleep when she’s back.” 

“It’s over for you.” Sam said with a laugh as he sipped a beer. 

“It was over for me about six years ago, Sam.” 

“True.” 

“Listen,” Josh hedged after a few bites of his burnt burger. “No one at the White House knows Donna and I are a couple.” 

“Are you going to tell them?” 

“I’m not sure yet.” 

“I see.” was all Sam said as he took another sip. 

“Do you think I should?” 

“I don’t.” 

“Really?” 

“Given the way your past year went, I don’t think it’ll go over well.” 

“But Leo sent me to Germany.” Josh argued. “He didn’t think this was going to happen?” 

“Did he say it with words?” 

“No. But I’ve known Leo for most of my life. He didn’t have to.” 

“He didn’t say it with words, Josh. He left himself an out. He sent you to Germany where you needed to be, but left himself an out.” 

Josh hated to admit Sam was right, but he was. Despite Leo and Josh’s strained relationship of late, Leo had given Josh permission to fly to Germany when the White House needed him the most; but because of that strained relationship, never came right out and gave his consent to a personal relationship between Josh and Donna. 

“Josh, I know you’ve always wanted to work in the White House...” 

“I don’t want to be there anymore.” he confessed cutting Sam off. “But Donna’s not in a position to leave yet, and she won’t stay there without me. Besides, an opportunity to leave hasn’t presented itself yet.” 

“Josh.” Sam said knowingly. “We both know you could take a few months off and live quite comfortably.” Josh squirmed a bit in his chair. He knew Sam was referring to the money his father had left him, but Josh couldn’t bring himself to touch that yet. Sam had set up a trust when Josh had inherited it, but then they never brought it up again. He knew one day he would have to make a decision about it, but once it was in a trust, he never thought about it again. 

“Yeah.” he sighed. 

“And it’s not like you’ve taken any vacation since Bartlet took office.” Sam reasoned. “You’ve got to have quite the savings account.” 

“I do.” he nodded. 

“So?” 

“Donna needs insurance, Sam.” Josh replied. “She needs insurance and she and I need a game plan. We’ll see what comes up between now and January.” 

“January?” Sam asked. “Why January?” Josh shrugged and looked away from Sam. Sam’s jaw dropped when the light bulb went off over his head. “You’re looking for a candidate.” Josh shrugged again and took a sip of his beer. “You are. You’re looking for a candidate. The filing deadline’s January, that’s why you’re not planning on leaving before then. Does Donna know?” 

“Of course Donna doesn’t know.” Josh shot back. “And don’t say a word to her about it yet. I’ll tell her, but I don’t want her stressing out.” 

Sam nodded his consent, then gestured to the list on the table between them. “What’s that for?” 

“It’s everything that I have to buy between now and when Donna comes back, which is really in the next two days.” 

“I’m not going to Camp David. I can help you with this stuff. I need stuff to keep me busy anyway. It’s why I’m out here.” Sam said. 

“Thanks.” 

“There’s a lot of food on this list.” 

“Well, that I wasn’t going to get until later. I don’t think take out is going to cut it for her right now.” 

“You’re going to COOK for her?” 

“I can cook.” 

“Since when?” 

“Well, I can read. I can read a recipe in a cook book.” Sam sat back and smiled at his friend. “Shut up.” Josh said to Sam’s goofy grin. 

“You really are going to take care of her.” 

“Of course I am.” 

“How are you going to go about that? When did you learn how to take care of someone else?” 

“I learned by example.” 

“From who?” 

“Donna.” 

TBC


	8. In the Aftermath

“CJ, where’s the closest Home Depot?” Josh asked popping into CJ’s office. 

CJ spit her coffee out and stared at him in astonishment. “First of all, how the hell would I know; secondly, what do you need one for?” 

“Donna’s place.” Josh replied. “Stuff needs to be done to it; bench in the shower, that kind of thing.” 

“And YOU’RE going to do it?” 

“I don’t know. Depends how hard it is.” Josh shrugged. “I’ll hire someone if I have to. Or Sam can help me.” 

“You and Sam installing things in Donna’s apartment?” CJ clarified again. 

“All right. Forget this.” Josh said with a huff when he saw CJ was of no help. “Never mind. I’ll ask someone who isn’t, you know, going to give me a hard time about it.” He turned to walk out of her office, and CJ immediately realized her mistake. 

“Josh!” she called after him and ran to catch up with him. “Josh!” 

He didn’t stop, but she was able to fall into step next to him. “CJ, I have to be up at Camp David tomorrow. She’s going to be back, hopefully, by the end of the week. I don’t have for games. If you’re not going to help me, then I’d appreciate it if you didn’t slow me up.” 

“You’re right, I’m sorry.” she hastily apologized. “I didn’t realize you were so pressed for time. I think there’s one on Rhode Island.” 

“I didn’t mean to be short with you, CJ.” Josh apologized stopping for a second. “It’s just...she did a lot for me. I just want to return the favor.” 

Josh had decided to keep with the original plan of not letting anyone know he and Donna were a couple, but he was still going to need to come up with a few explanations for why he was basically moving in with her. 

“I know.” 

“I also need a futon place.” he said and continued walking. 

“What do you need a futon for?” 

“So I have someplace to sleep at her place.” he said nonchalantly. Really, it was so Sam had someplace to crash if he needed to. He was going to primarily stay at Josh’s and Josh would stay with Donna, but they had to at least make it look good. 

“Stay at her place?” CJ nearly chocked. 

“She stayed with me for two months, CJ.” Josh shot back, a little nastier than he had intended. “She didn’t have to, nobody asked her, but she did. She deserves the same treatment and the same respect.” 

Something was going on that CJ wasn’t being let in the loop on. It was probably just as good, but something wasn’t adding up. Josh could spin it all he wanted to, but bosses did not move in with their assistants to wait on them hand and foot. And they certainly did not fly to Germany to check on them. Of course, she knew that Josh and Donna were different. But this was probably the most unhealthy, co-dependent working relationship she’d ever seen. 

If she allowed herself to admit it, deep down, in her heart of hearts, she was jealous. She was jealous of how close they were. They always seemed to have each other. No one else was like that. She liked Donna, and she liked Josh. And if she allowed herself to stop being the press secretary for a minute, she’d admit that she like them as a couple. But the way Josh talked, it sounded like he was repaying a debt to a friend, and it wasn’t fair to Donna to be strung along like that. 

“Listen, I...” he began before trailing off. “I’ve got stuff to do. I’ll catch up with you later.” CJ watched with a sigh as he walked away. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Josh didn’t get far before he was interrupted by his temp. 

“Mr. Lyman.” she said. She was practically out of breath as she literally ran to keep up with him. 

“Yeah?” he asked, not bothering to slow down. He’d noticed, but he wasn’t inclined to help her out. Like he told CJ, he didn’t have a lot of time. 

“Mr. McGarry is looking for you.” she said breathlessly. 

“Thanks.” Josh dismissed. He increased his pace and headed right to Leo’s office. The door to the corridor was open so he went right in. “You wanted to see me?” he quickly asked Leo. 

“Yeah. You ready to go?” Leo asked, removing his reading glasses and looking up at him. Josh’s eyes widened slightly. 

“Um, not at this very minute, but I WILL be ready to go.” Josh replied. “I thought I wasn’t going until tomorrow.” 

“Right.” Leo nodded. 

“Okay. Then, I’ll be ready to go tomorrow.” Josh promised. 

“You have a lot to get caught up on.” Leo reminded. 

“Yeah. But I’m still going to be there a full day before the Israelis and the Palestinians, so I’ll have the quiet of the Birnham Woods to read in.” Josh smirked. There was NO way he would have time to do any prep work between now and then anyway. He’d already sent Sam to about seven different places today. 

“Sometimes I forget how well you work under pressure.” Leo responded. Josh couldn’t figure out if that was a compliment or not. It sounded like one, but then again, the tone of Leo’s voice... “Listen.” Leo began looking back at him. “Straight up. Are you too close to this? Are you going to be okay up there?” 

Josh was stunned by Leo’s words. It was a loaded question, and he wasn’t really sure how to answer it. “I think we’re all a little too close to it.” Josh hedged. He’d try misdirection first. It had worked on Donna all these years. 

“Yeah, but I think you’re a little closer than the rest of us.” 

Josh got Leo’s true meaning, but the words still pissed him off. It sounded almost like Leo was suggesting that Donna wasn’t as important as everyone else. That thought right there, should have answered Leo’s question, but Josh decided to go one step further. “Not any more than Toby is.” Probably a tactical error on his part. 

Leo studied Josh for a long moment. Josh felt like he was under an interrogation lamp. But Leo was not a stupid man. Josh flew to Germany. In fact, when Leo told him that everyone would understand if he wanted to be somewhere else, Josh gave him a curt thank you and beat feet right for the door. He didn’t even stop to say goodbye, or hey, I’ll be back in a couple of days. 

“How is Donna?” Leo asked. Shit! He’d picked up on it. 

“On the road to recovery.” Josh replied. 

“You take care of her; she puts up with a lot of shit from you.” Leo said sternly. 

“I will.” Josh nodded hastily. 

“Get out of here.” Leo nodded towards the door. “Be ready to go tomorrow.” 

“Kay.” Josh turned and started for the door, but Leo’s voice stopped him. 

“And Josh? Don’t run up my phone bill too high. That’s what you have a cell phone for.” 

“Yes, sir.” Josh replied before walking out the door. He knew the underlying meaning there. It was, we learned the hard way that the White House keeps records of outgoing phone calls, maybe you could not call your assistant too much from your White House phone. 

That conversation confused Josh even more. The subtext was glaring. Leo was asking how he and Donna were, or he thought, more importantly, if there WAS a he and Donna. But Sam was right, he didn’t use the words. If the important words weren’t used, he could back pedal. 

Josh sighed as he headed back to his office to grab his car keys and head out to the Home Depot. He really didn’t think he’d ever be on the receiving end of the inside the White House politics. He’d thought he meant more to Leo than that. 

TBC


	9. In the Aftermath

“I still can’t believe you two cooked.” Donna smiled with a sigh as Josh helped her settle down onto her couch and propped her leg gently up on the ottoman. 

“It wasn’t that hard.” Josh shrugged, adjusting the pillows on the couch, as Sam cleaned up the remnants of dinner in the kitchen. “I can read a cookbook.” 

“It was delicious.” she smiled. 

“I would have settled for edible.” 

“Well, it was better than edible.” 

She could have sworn she’d seen him blush, but he stood up before she could call him on it. “You want anything to drink?” he asked. She shook her head still smiling up at him. “Are you comfortable enough?” 

“Yes.” she said as Sam returned from the kitchen. “Thank you, both, for everything you’ve done for me so far.” 

“Donna...” Josh began. 

“No, it means a lot to me.” 

“You don’t have to thank me; there’s still plenty of time for me to screw it all up.” 

“You’ll never screw it up.”she whispered and he blushed again. 

“Have we heard anything about Leo today?” Sam asked. 

“Still holding steady.” Josh sighed. 

“So everything’s a mess at work.” Donna determined. 

“Don’t worry about work.” Josh said sitting down next to her on the couch, while Sam sat in an overstuffed chair next to the couch. 

“I am worried about work. I’m going to have to deal with the mess tomorrow. I don’t even want to KNOW what destruction you’ve created in your office while I was gone.” 

“Don’t go in tomorrow, Donna.” Josh replied. 

“The doctor said I could, Josh.” 

“You have a ton of vacation time. Can’t you just use --” 

“No.” she cut him off. “You, of all people, should appreciate where I’m coming from.” 

“I do, which is why I know that you need to take your time and pace yourself.” 

“You didn’t.” 

“And you yelled at me for it.” 

“All right, children.” Sam intervened. “There’s got to be a happy medium you can come to.” 

“The doctor said I could come back to eight hour days; that’s, like, half days in our world, Josh. That’s what I’m going to do.” Ignoring Sam’s attempt at keeping the peace. 

“He also said you were supposed to rest and not overstress yourself.” Josh shot back. “Working for the Deputy Chief of Staff is stressful.” 

“Really? I wish I knew that before. It being my first day on the job tomorrow and all.” 

“I’m your supervisor, Donna.” Josh reminded her. “I could just not approve your return to work.” 

Donna gasped at his resorting to dirty pool to win the argument. Josh rarely acted like the boss. After so many years of working so well together and reading each other’s minds, he never really had to. 

“I can’t believe you would stoop --” she began, but he quickly cut her off. 

“Yes, you can. And if you didn’t, you should have. I told you I’d do whatever it took to help you get better.” 

“Well, I’m going to work tomorrow.” she resolved. “You can help me and we can do it the easy way; or you can be a jackass and not and then have to deal with THAT all day.” 

Sam’s shoulders slumped as he continued to watch the argument play out. On the one hand, he hated to see his two friends fight, but on the other hand, if they’re going to make a go of it as a couple, they’re going to need to work things out on their own, so he decided against another attempt at intervention. 

“Fine. But if you get too tired, or cause yourself any pain, or get stressed out, you take the rest of the week off.” Josh replied. “AND you take a full hour for lunch away from your desk to relax.” 

“I’m not made of china, Joshua.” she said without the sting her voice had moments ago. 

“Right now, yes, you are. Take it or leave it.” 

“I’ll take it.” she readily agreed. She was anxious to get back to work for many reasons. One, she wanted to get back to her normal routine as quickly as possible so she wasn’t stuck at home feeling sorry for herself; and two, she wasn’t used to being away from him this much. She didn’t feel complete when he wasn’t near. And it wasn’t just because of recent events either. After all these years, she was just so used to spending nearly all her time with him. Even in Gaza, before the explosion, she felt strange not having him around her. Of course, she had plenty to keep herself occupied with, but it was still strange. Maybe that’s why she sent him so many emails. 

He leaned in and kissed her lightly, running his thumb across her lips after he pulled away. She blushed in response. It was strange that Sam just witnessed that. Of course, he’d be the only one for the time being to witness anything like that, and that was okay with Donna. The moment, she wasn’t inclined to share anything with CJ, Margaret was too busy running a Chief of Staff’s office for CJ, and Toby probably wouldn’t care all that much. So that left Sam, which she preferred anyway. 

“I got to bring stuff in from the car.” he said. “I’ll be right back.” 

She watched as he left the apartment, and with a sigh, turned to Sam. “You handle him well, Donna.” he said. “Better than anyone I’ve ever seen. Since your relationship with him has changed, I can say this now. I was always surprised at how you seemed to effortlessly penetrate the walls he has around him. He never seemed to have a problem letting you in. He’s really proud of you, too. I know he doesn’t always admit to it --” 

“The day the President lifted the shutdown and the budget passed he did.” she smiled. “Right in front of Toby, Will and Angela. He said we were Wilt Chamberlain and the rookie that pulled his first rebound the night Chamberlain pulled 55. I have no idea what that really means, but he was telling everybody that we was proud of me and proud of us as a team. Which is a big deal, considering he would never even admit out loud to liking me, much less to being proud of me.” she said with a chuckle. 

“Because he’d be lying and Josh is many things, but we both know he’s not a liar.” Sam smiled. 

“I don’t understand.” 

“He couldn’t tell people that he liked you because he’d be lying. He didn’t like you, Donna; he loved you.” 

She smiled as Josh returned to the apartment with his backpack and laptop. 

“You’re going to work?” she frowned. 

“WE’RE going to work.” he corrected. “For a little while at least. The patient’s bill is gearing up and we have some democrats sitting on the fence and one key one heading off the reservation entirely.” 

“Who’s that?” Sam asked. 

“Santos.” Josh said absently, dropping his back up and handing Donna his laptop. 

“From Texas?” Sam frowned. 

“Yeah.” Josh confirmed. 

“All right. Well, I’ll leave you two to this.” Sam replied standing up. “I’m going to head back to Josh’s tonight.” 

They said goodnight, and Josh and Donna settled in for Josh to bring Donna up to speed on everything else that had gone on while she was away. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Okay. So before we go in here, I have to tell you something.” Josh said stopping Donna’s wheelchair at the closed door of his office and standing in front of it. 

“Oh God, what did you do?” she groaned dramatically, a few staffers nearby smiled. Everyone was happy she was back, mainly because Josh was in a better mood. 

“I just want to forewarn you is all.” he said. 

“It’s a mess; isn’t it?” 

“No.” But at her pointed look, nodded his head in defeat. “All right, yes. But that’s not what I was talking about. That’s to be expected, right?” 

“If you say so.” she grumbled in reply. But secretly, she was happy to hear it. It made her happy to see actual evidence of his helplessness without her. 

“No, this is...” he began, but then just shrugged and opened the door. She peaked her head in as he came around and wheeled her in. 

“You got a couch.” she gaped. 

“Yeah.” 

“Who did all this?” she asked, looking around in awe at the rearranged office. She had always thought a couch would make it seem so cramped, but the set up was actually pretty good. There was a new shelving system that housed the television and books, the blackboard was moved to the side wall that connected his office with CJ’s old office and his PC was gone. 

“Margaret.” Josh shrugged. 

“What happened to your computer?” 

“Laptop.” he pointed to his desk where a second lap top was situated. “There’s a wireless printer on the credenza behind the desk.” 

“I can’t believe it.” she breathed out softly. 

“My HOPE is that you’ll come in here on lunch and lay down.” he hedged gently. “If I get stuck and can’t leave yet at night, you can come in here and lay down and rest.” 

He was so sincere and genuine in his intentions that she couldn’t help but be touched. She thought it was a bit overboard, but she also knew him, and knew that it was derived from fear, causing him to be overly concerned. 

“Okay.” she agreed, more for his benefit than her own. 

“Yeah?” he was surprised at how quickly she gave in. He thought for sure there’d be resistence. It occurred to him that she was placating him, but in the end, he didn’t care because she’d be resting and he’d be getting his way anyway. 

She had to admit though, she hadn’t realized how draining being back at work would be. Josh came to her, instead of calling her in, which Donna thought really was a testament to his willpower sometimes. Nearly everyone had stopped by to see her. 

Nearly... 

CJ was walking through the operations bullpen, headed back to her office. She was just coming back from the situation room, where, once again, Secretary Hutchinson showed his displeasure in the President’s choice of Chief of Staff. 

“Donna,” Josh said exiting his office and moving to Donna’s cubicle. For reasons CJ couldn’t exactly pinpoint, she stopped to watch. She was standing in the corridor, so she wasn’t exactly going for stealth. “I need you to get going with this.” He handed her a large binder, not letting go until he was sure she had it. 

“What is it?” 

“465.” 

“The land use bill?” she replied. 

“Yeah. Unfortunately, I’m swamped with all this other crap. So I’ll need you to go meet with Broderick and Crane for the preliminary stuff.” He started to turn away and walk back to his office, but Donna’s voice stopped him. 

“And how am I supposed to get there?” she asked gesturing to her wheelchair. 

He stopped and turned around back to her, blowing out a long breath. “Shit. I forgot about that.” 

“Yes.” 

“Okay. Call their offices, tell them you’ll be the one meeting with them and can they meet you here.” 

“Josh.” 

“What?” 

“I’m supposed to play up the poor me angle?” 

“No. That’s not at all what I said. You’re supposed to tell them you’re taking this meeting for me, would they mind meeting here instead. They’re two democrats, Donna, they won’t mind at all coming to the White House.” 

She sighed and looked up at him. 

“All right.” he said holding out his hand and waving it for her to give him the binder back. “I’ll take the meeting, but I need you to reschedule it, and try to get it after hours.” 

“No.” she said quickly, hugging the binder to her chest and ignoring Josh’s smirk. “I’ll...I’ll do it.” 

“Kay.” he smiled, and turned back and disappeared into his office. 

CJ watched as Donna looking longingly down at the binder in her lap. She wondered, and not for the first time since Donna’s accident, if she had misjudged their relationship. She had obviously staggeringly misjudged Josh’s personal feelings for Donna. She always just assumed that he didn’t want to let her go because she was such a good assistant and Donna obviously made work fun for him. But now, CJ thought he kept her around for the same reasons Donna stayed. 

And that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Are you comfortable?” Josh asked Donna as he set her up on his new couch in his office. 

“This is awfully comfortable.” she sighed snuggling down. 

“Good.” he smiled. “I got it for you.” 

Donna snorted in response and he chuckled. “Never mind you’ve been begging me for it for years.” 

“See how you could have benefitted from it all these years?” 

“Josh, you got me this couch because I’m injured and HAVE to take it easy. That wasn’t the case before.” she said lightly. “No way would you have let me take afternoon naps on a couch in your office. Plus, I didn’t have to wait for you to go home before.” 

“First of all, Donna, you wound me. You underestimate my hopeless devotion to you. If you wanted, or still want for that matter, to take an afternoon nap on a couch in my office, and you think I would pass up the opportunity to watch you sleep, you’re out of your beautiful deluded mind. I loved when you fell asleep when I was around.” 

“Really?” she asked perplexed and he nodded. “Why?” He pulled a quilt out of a bag on the side of the couch and draped it over her. Donna smiled and snuggled down into the couch. 

“Because I could say things to you when you were asleep that I couldn’t when you were awake.” he whispered. 

“Like what?” she smiled. He should have known. Her insatiable curiosity was one of the things he loved most about her. 

“That I thought you were amazing. I could apologize for being such a coward about it. I told you that I was scared that if we ever got together, I’d do something stupid and drive you away and lose you forever.” 

“Are you still scared about that?” she frowned. He nodded and pushed the hair from her face. 

“Joshua, I’ll admit to you that you are not the easiest person to be around sometimes. I’ll admit that you’ve said things in the past that have made me want to slug you.” she said, and he looked down sheepishly. “But, I’ve never left you, and I’ve never considered leaving you. It never occurred to you that the reason I’ve stayed all these years was because I loved you?” 

He looked up at her and shook his head. “It couldn’t.” he said. “I couldn’t think about that. I probably still shouldn’t think about it.” 

“I love you, Joshua.” she whispered. 

“I love you, too.” he smiled and gave her a soft kiss before pulling away and moving to his desk. She closed her eyes, but opened them again at the sound of his voice. “I realize I’m such a prince for getting you a couch.” he said. “And I’ll let you sleep in a minute, but you have to tell me about Broderick and Crane first.” 

“God, I think it was obvious how nervous I was.” she groaned. 

“Donna, you’ve already taken meetings like that for me.” 

“Yeah, but I’ve always dumped the notes in your lap and washed my hands of it. You took it from there.” 

“Well, that’s not happening this time.” 

“Are you sure, Josh? Are you sure you should be letting me take on this much with 465?” 

“Yes.” he said simply. “Now tell me what happened before you fall asleep.” 

Donna spent the next couple of minutes filling him in on her meeting. She talked until she fell asleep and he continued to work for a bit. Every now and then, he would look over at her and get lost in thoughts. Mainly thoughts of guilt. Guilt over sending her to a dangerous place; guilt over having to keep their relationship a secret. And guilt for keeping them someplace they didn’t want to be. It was becoming glaringly obvious that they were both disenchanted with their jobs. But she wouldn’t leave him, and he wasn’t sure of his next move. 

TBC


	10. In the Aftermath

“So?” Donna asked Josh pointedly. 

“So what?” he replied avoiding the question the best he could. 

“What did the D triple C have to say?” 

“They want me to run for office in Connecticut.” He smirked as she choked on her iced tea in response to that. 

“They came to ask you to run for office?” she croaked when she had composed herself. 

“No. They came to offer me a job.” he replied. “When I told him I already had one, they brought up the open seat in Connecticut.” 

“So you’re not interested in the D triple C then.” she concluded. He could almost hear the disappointment in her voice and he resisted the urge to sigh. He was looking even more to leave this job since CJ had been named Chief of Staff, but he didn’t want to take something simply because it presented itself. True, the DCCC was an attractive offer, but so were a lot things that people had been calling about. He and Toby had been getting calls for a while now. But Sam was right, he was looking for a candidate. 

“What time is physical therapy?” he asked changing the subject. 

“4:45.” she answered. “I tried to get the last appointment of the day.” 

“Let’s leave a little early and swing by the Hill.” he suggested. 

“Why?” This confused her. There was nothing on the schedule. 

“I want to talk to Matt Santos.” 

“About?” 

“Stuff.” he evaded. 

“Joshua.” she warned in response. 

“He’s not running again. I want to find out why and try to get him to change his mind.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Congressman, you can’t just walk away.” Josh said as he and Congressman Santos walked down the corridors of Capitol Hill and returned to his office, where Donna was waiting in the reception area. 

“Of course I can, Josh.” he said then turned to Donna. “This is Donna?” 

“Yes, sir.” Donna said. Matt Santos extended his hand to her and she shook it. 

“How are you feeling?” he asked. 

“Better.” she said simply. 

Santos turned to Josh. “Is this guilt for the patient’s bill?” 

“That you’ll never see, if you leave, no.” Josh shot back. “She has physical therapy now.” 

“That’s....awfully nice of you to take her.” Matt said, regarding him thoughtfully. Josh successfully avoided squirming. 

“Yes.” Josh said. “You know what else is awfully nice of me? Coming by to try to talk a three term congressmen out of leaving. Pretty much nobody has gotten that treatment.” 

“You do love to fight.” Santos smiled, then clapped Josh on the shoulder and turned to Donna. “It was nice to meet you, Donna. I’m really glad you’re all right.” 

“Thank you, sir.” Donna smiled. 

“Nobody calls me ‘sir,’ Donna. Call me Matt.” 

“Yes, sir.” she replied and Matt chuckled. 

“Thanks for stopping by, Josh.” 

“Thank you for your time, Congressman.” Josh said with a sigh. Though the Congressman had said he was done with congress, Josh didn’t really believe it. Maybe Santos was just disillusioned with the House. He certainly couldn’t fault him for wanting to spend more time with his family, but Matt Santos was a good man, and a good public servant. He wasn’t done with his arguments with Santos yet; he just needed to come up with some new ones. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

“All set?” Josh asked when he saw Donna wheel through the doors of the waiting room. He was immediately on his feet and crossing over to her when he saw the tears streaming down her face. “What’s the matter? What happened?” 

“Nothing.” she said wiping the tears away. “It just...really hurt.” 

“Are you all right?” he asked gently rubbing his thumbs across her cheeks. She nodded but he was unconvinced. “Why don’t I take you home, and I’ll draw you a nice warm bath, and make you a really good dinner.” 

“Kay.” she sniffled. She pulled herself together as he wheeled her out of the building and to his car. When she was settled into her seat and he slid behind the wheel, she rested her head against the head rest and looked over at him. “What are you going to make me?” she asked. 

“I don’t know.” he smiled, pulling out into traffic. “I’m becoming quite the cook.” 

“You really are.” she agreed with a smile. “I’m pleasantly surprised.” 

“I don’t know though. When Sam cooks, he gets gormet.” 

“Sam’s got all day to search the internet for recipes and scour Washington for the ingredients.” she countered. 

“This is true. How about grilled chicken and broccoli alfredo?” 

“Mmm, yum.” 

“OR!” he yelled getting excited. “I could make this baked ziti with sausage and Ricotta and Asiago cheese in a white wine reduction sauce. That looked REALLY good! I’ve been dying to try that.” 

He looked over at Donna, who looked suitably impressed. “You can make that?” 

“Sure. We’ll have to stop to get the sausage though, or I can drop you off and run back out.” 

“That sounds really good.” she smiled. “Then what?” 

“Then, we’ll go to bed early.” 

“Don’t tease me.” she pouted. “I’ve had a very rough hour.” 

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” he said lightly. 

The drive to her place was short and getting inside took longer than normal since every few steps, she hissed in pain. About half way up the flight of stairs, she turned around and sat down, silent tears streaking down her face. Josh knelt down on the step below her and gently pushed the hair out of her face. 

“Sorry.” she whispered. 

“Don’t apologize for something that’s not your fault.” 

“The therapist just worked me really hard today.” 

“And for that, I will find a reason to yank their license and throw them in jail.” 

She smiled lightly at his attempt to make her laugh, but her leg was throbbing, and it was difficult to muster the strength. 

“How did you do it, Josh?” she whispered. “How did you put up with it?” 

“You made me.” he shrugged indifferently. “You wanted me to get better, and so I suffered through it.” 

She looked up at him in wonder. She could tell that he was telling the truth and she was overcome with it. He was so matter of fact in his answer. 

“Okay. This is ridiculous.” he announced leaning down in between her legs. He wrapped her good leg around his waist and linked her arms around his neck, then took a breath and lifted her up, trudging up the rest of the steps with her in his arms. 

“You’re crazy!” she exclaimed. “This is going to kill your back.” 

“It’s not going to hurt anymore than watching you suffer, Donna.” he replied. He kicked at her door until Sam opened it. Sam’s eyes widened when he saw them in the doorway. 

“What happened?” he asked incredulously. 

“Rough therapy session.” Josh replied. Sam poked his head out into the hallway and saw Josh’s backpack and laptop, along with Donna’s tote bag on the stairs and went down to retrieve them, while Josh carried Donna right to the bathroom, depositing her on the toilet. He pulled back the shower curtain and started the water, while she watched through her tears. 

“This is the plan.” he announced. “I’m going to get you a percocet, and you’re going to take it, and soak in the tub until you feel better, and I’m going to go into the kitchen and make you a stellar dinner, and try NOT to obsess over the fact that you’re in here wet and naked.” 

She laughed and wiped away the tears, then nodded up at him. “That’s a good plan.” she agreed. 

“Kay. You stay here, while I go talk to Sam and give him the plan. Then I’ll come back and help you into the tub.” 

She looked over at the filling bathtub and picked one of her bath salt jars off the edge of the tub, dumping some in the warm water. When Josh came back, he retrieved a clean, fluffy towel from the hall closet for her, lit the few candles that were scattered around the tub, and brought in her portable CD player. She smiled lightly as the soothing sounds of Yo Yo Ma began to reverberate off the tiled walls. He grabbed her bathrobe off the hook and laid it nearby, so she could easily get undressed. He didn’t want to test his already strained willpower by seeing her naked. She smiled gratefully to him and he left the bathroom, closing the door behind him and returned when she called for his help climbing into the tub. 

Donna soaked in the tub for nearly 40 minutes, reveling in the relaxation and the sounds of Josh and Sam in the kitchen. The door to the bathroom was slightly ajar, so they could hear her, if she needed help. The percocet had definitely kicked in, and she was feeling miles better. 

She was also feeling extremely foolish for losing it in front of Josh like that. She had gotten so used to being the strong one, the one that never faltered for him, that at the first sign of encouragement from him, she folded. 

It didn’t phase him though, or it didn’t appear to. When Donna cried, Josh found the quickest solution he could to make it stop. In this case, it was to get her off her feet and take the pain away. 

She smiled as their voices carried into the bathroom. 

“I don’t know about this, Josh.” Sam was saying with what sounded like great trepidation. 

“What do mean?” 

“Are you sure you’re keeping track of everything? You’ve got all four burners going.” 

“I know; it’s a very complicated recipe.” 

“I applaud your use of something green.” 

“The recipe calls for spinach.” 

“Of course, I’m not sure that the sausage doesn’t offset the good qualities of the spinach.” 

“Whatever.” 

“I know we’ve been through this, but are you SURE about the pasta? That doesn’t seem right.” 

“Who am I? Michael Chirorella? The recipe says cook it for no more than five minutes. It even notes that the pasta will be underdone.” Josh argued. 

“It just doesn’t seem right to undercook the pasta.” Sam said warily. 

“Well, I guess it cooks in the oven.” 

“But you can’t really bake pasta like that.” 

“Apparently, you can.” Josh said firmly. “Listen make sure nothing boils over, and break up the sausage for me. I’m going to go check on Donna.” He appeared in the doorway shortly after that and she smiled up at him from the tub. “I’ve got to tell you, Donna,” he said walking slowly to the tub. “in this candlelight, in that tub, you just might be the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.” 

She smiled lazily up at the compliment. She was getting delightfully tired now, and she nodded when he asked if she was ready to get out. He held the towel out for her and averted his eyes. “All right.” he said. He heard the disturbance of water as she carefully stood up, keeping the weight on her good leg. 

“You can look at me, you know.” she said softly. 

“I really can’t right now, Donna.” he confessed. “If I do, I’m not sure I’ll be able to resist the urge to throw you back down into that tub and do...well, a lot of things to you.” She chuckled at his answer and wrapped the towel around her. 

“I’m just saying.” she said lightly as he lifted her from the tub and sat her back down onto the toilet. “If you wanted to look at me, that would okay.” 

“Believe me when I tell you, I do.” 

Her eyes had gone dark and smokey, and the husky quality of her voice was making him lightheaded. He did, however, give in to the temptation to kiss her blind. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave in completely. The love and tenderness he was showing her was overpowering, and all she wanted to do was submerge herself in him, never to reappear. 

But she couldn’t do that. She couldn’t hide behind him, though if she did, she knew he’d protect her; he’d defend the walls she put up around herself until she was ready to reemerge. 

“Dinner smells delicious.” she complimented softly. 

“It’s going to knock your socks off.” he boasted. 

“A pretty easy feat, considering I’m not wearing any.” she challenged. 

“Why don’t I bring you to bed?” he suggested. 

“I’ve waited a long time to hear you say that, Josh.” she sighed. 

“Donna...” he warned gently. 

“I’m only kidding.” 

“You’re killing me over here.” 

“ME?!” she exclaimed. “You’re the one talking about taking me to bed!” 

“Bringing you to your bed. Big difference.” he countered. 

“Mmm, not really.” she argued. 

“Trust me. There is.” he groaned, leaving the room, so she could get dressed. 

As Josh had predicted, dinner was delicious. And much to Sam’s bewilderment, the noodles did not stay undercooked. Not to be outdone by Josh though, Sam immediately hit the net after dinner in search of his next dish, while Josh and Donna headed in to bed. When she was settled into bed, he climbed in next to her, gently pulling her up against him, his arm stretched gently across her stomach, and his leg draped lazily over her uninjured one. He sighed into her hair and kissed her cheek, cherishing the rare moment of solitude they had. 

“I can’t believe we’re actually in bed early.” he sighed. 

“It’s 10 o’clock, Josh. That’s hardly early for most people.” 

“In our world?” he countered. 

“Oh well, yeah, this IS, like, two hours early for us.” 

“See?” 

“You’re as good as your word.” 

“I am.” 

“Thank you.” she said softly. 

“There’s nothing to thank me for.” 

“There’s everything to thank you for.” 

He didn’t know how to explain it to her without making it sound like he was repaying a debt to her, so he dropped it. But it was more than that. It was more than her taking care of him while he recovered from the shooting. It was more than her taking care of him the following Christmas, suffering in silence through both his disasterous relationships with Amy, when it looked like his career was about to go up in smoke, making sure he ate mostly right, took care of himself when he was sick. 

It was simply because he loved her. And he loved it when she smiled. And if she wasn’t smiling at him, there was something wrong in his world and it needed to be fixed. He glanced down at her face as she drifted off to sleep and at the light smile gracing her lips. For now, nothing was wrong in his world. 

TBC


	11. In the Aftermath

“Joshua, you’re hovering again.” Donna sighed frustrated. 

“I can’t help it.” He defended. “You look like you’re in pain.” 

“I’m not in pain, I’m sore. There’s a large difference.” she said dropping down onto his couch in his apartment. She looked up at him and smiled brilliantly. “I did it.” 

“Yes, you did.” he smiled back. 

“I made it the whole day without any crutches or anything.” 

“And now you’re paying for it.” He left her side to head to the bathroom. 

“I don’t care. It was totally worth it!” she rejoiced. 

“I don’t know about that.” he disagreed, returning to her side with water and Motrin. She smiled gratefully and popped the pills in her mouth and took the water to wash them down. 

“It is.” she nodded. “I can be back at your side now.” 

“You are.” 

“No, I can zip through the corridors with you.” 

“No.” he said with a laugh. “I definitely don’t think so.” 

“That’s what today was about, Josh.” she pouted. 

“And look at you!” he shot back. “You’re sore on my couch. No, Donna. You’ll get there. Give yourself the time.” 

“I have.” 

“Not enough.” 

“You suck, Josh.” 

“And you’ll love it when I do.” he leered. 

She rolled her eyes at him and dropped her head back on the couch, closing her eyes to relax as she waited for the Motrin to kick in, but a thought came to her then. 

“We should find out.” she said popping her head up. 

“Find out what?” he asked absently, rifling through his mail. 

“If I will or won’t love your sucking.” 

She smiled as she watched him freeze up. He wasn’t ready to hear that from her. They had been waiting until she was recovered more, and it wasn’t easy. In fact, it was damn near killing them both. 

“Donna.” 

“Yes, Josh?” 

“We can’t do that yet.” 

“Why not?” 

“Because you’re...” 

“Feeling ready.” 

He couldn’t help but take note the way her voice dropped. It was husky, and he’d never heard that kind of tone come from her before. He swallowed hard and she crooked her finger at him. Against his better judgement, he obeyed, dropping the mail on the table and walking over to her. He knelt down in front of her and her hand went to his hair. 

“Donna, we only have one first time together, and I don’t want it marred by you being in pain.” he said softly. She heard the desperation, albeit small, in his voice. 

“You won’t hurt me, Josh.” she assured. 

“You don’t know that.” 

“Yes, I do. You’d never do anything that would hurt me.” 

He was so entranced by her voice and her lips that he’d barely noticed she’d taken off his tie and began unbuttoning his shirt. She tugged him toward her for a smoldering kiss. His mind was saying no, she wasn’t ready, but he couldn’t stop his body or heart. Maybe he was selfish. Maybe it was just that he’d wanted this for so long, he was blind to everything else. 

And her hands upon him never helped matters. Oh, they’d done stuff since she’d been back, but he was always extremely careful with her. Her touch never failed to light his skin on fire. He often wondered about how much of it was the anticipation leading up to this, the inevitable execution of something that they had built up in their minds forever. And that made him nervous. 

There was one time in his entire adult life that he was nervous about being with a woman, and that was the first time he ever had been with one. Since then, there was just either too much alcohol or lust involved that he never gave being nervous much thought. 

But he was nervous with Donna. He was so nervous his heart was pounding and the only reason why he wasn’t shaking like a leaf was because of sheer will. 

For Donna, she felt like she was busting out of her skin. He was so gentle and tender with her that she almost cried. She always sort of thought that their first time would be fast and a little rough, filled with years of breaking sexual tension, probably the result of too much drinking that would finally give them the courage to go for it. 

But he was right. They would only have one first time, and she was suddenly glad he was setting a slow pace. She wanted to enjoy him as much as it appeared that he wanted to enjoy her. 

He lifted her off the couch with a slight groan, and she chuckled in response. “Trying to be chivalrous here, Donna.” he murmured against her lips. 

“Sorry.” she replied. 

He carried her into his room and gently laid her on the bed. Before she laid back, she pulled her shirt over her head, while he shrugged out of his. This was not new territory for them. They’d seen each other topless since she’d been back. He never ceased to pause to appreciate her beauty, but this wasn’t the first time he was being introduced to the upper portion of her body. Still, he took his time kissing every inch of it as she sighed and arched her body to meet his. 

There were times, quite frankly, when she still couldn’t believe this wasn’t all a dream. She never dared believe he would say the things he was and do the things he was. How could this be happening to her? How could she be this lucky? 

She knew people at the White House could see through her. She knew that they could tell how she felt about Josh, and probably always could. And she knew a lot people didn’t understand why. They didn’t see the man she did. She was okay with that. She didn’t like to share him. 

Especially when he was doing things like this to her. 

Her mind was mush and her body felt electrified where he kissed her. She really liked his mouth when it wasn’t arguing with her. Oh, who was she kidding? She liked his mouth when it was arguing with her, too. 

She was so lost in the feeling, she hadn’t realized they were both naked. How could she miss that? Her hands were everywhere and he moaned as she freely explored his body. She realized the power she wielded over him, and she felt a little wicked. 

Admittedly, since she wasn’t all that limber, he did most of the work. That was okay with her. There’d be plenty of time for her to reciprocate. 

And he didn’t seem to mind at all. He kissed every inch of her body, drinking her in. She was intoxicating to him. There was a moment when he actually felt light headed. He took a mental inventory of where he was kissing when she sighed, or where he was kissing when she moaned. She placed soft kisses on every single one of the fresh scars on her body, each one a humble reminder of what it took to motivate him to confess his feelings, and how he almost never had the chance. 

It wasn’t surprising to discover that they moved together the same way they always did, synchronically with one another, as if they programmed specifically for this. And as they lay together, satiated and content, and she dozed curled into his side, he held her. He held onto her like he was holding a precious gem. He was. Never in his life had a woman in his arms meant so much; never in his life was he so afraid to lose something. Since he’d met her, he protected her in every way he could and he’d never stop. He could never repay her for all she’d done for him, he could only promise himself to be everything she wanted. 

TBC


	12. In the Aftermath

“You needed to see me, CJ?” Josh asked swinging into her office. 

“Yeah. I’m going to transfer Donna.” CJ announced cutting right to the chase. 

“What?” he asked after a pause. 

“I’m transferring Donna out of your office and moving her to the Vice President’s office.” CJ said quickly. “Will said he could use her for media targeting for the campaign.” 

“WHY?!” 

“Because she’ll be more useful over there.” CJ said. 

“She will not!” Josh exploded. How could CJ do this to them!? How could she stab them in the back like this? She knew! She knew he was a basketcase without Donna around. She saw it for herself. And here, he thought at that time she was such a concerned friend. He thought she understood what Josh was going through. 

CJ squirmed a bit as Josh’s gaze bore into her. “This is because of Germany.” he said quietly. 

“Josh...” CJ began. 

“You seemed so concerned, CJ.” 

“Don’t do that to me.” she shot back. “I was just as concerned for her as everybody else was around here. She’s my friend, too, Josh.” 

“No.” he continued softly, recalling Donna’s conversation with him in the hospital. “She’s not really. She told me about your little conversation during the lock down. If you were really her friend, why would you tell her to leave a job she loves?” 

“It’s not the job she loves, Josh; she’s fixated on you.” 

Before the accident, this little tidbit would have sent Josh’s stomach flying, but he was privy to information CJ wasn’t; namely, he and Donna were a couple. 

“She can’t hide it anymore, Josh. And that’s bad for the President.” she insisted. Josh gave her a rueful grin. “I have to protect him, Josh.” 

Josh nodded once and turned to walk out of the office, but he paused at the doorway and turned back to look at her over his shoulder. “You were our friend, CJ.” He paused and looked around her office, the Chief of Staff’s office and all the changes that were made to it. “I’m certainly not mad at this decision anymore.” He said quietly, then left the office with CJ sitting there, looking down at her shaking hands. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

“She transferred her, Leo.” Josh said pacing before Leo in CJ’s old office. He’d come right here from CJ’s office. He couldn’t face her yet. He couldn’t face Donna like this. He had to get a handle on his emotions first, and he had to have the beginnings of a plan. She would expect one. She would expect Josh not to let her go without a fight. 

“Who?” 

“Donna.” Josh replied. “CJ transferred Donna to Russell’s office.” 

“Donna? Donna Moss?” 

“Yeah, Donna -- how many Donnas work around here, Leo?” Josh demanded. 

“CJ transferred Donna, your assistant, to Russell’s office.” 

“Yes!” 

“Did Donna ask for the transfer?” 

“No! She’ll be devastated.” 

“CJ just took it upon herself to transfer your assistant.” 

“Yes.” 

“And you have no idea why.” 

“No clue.” 

“CJ must have had a good reason.” Leo shrugged. 

“Oh, she had a reason, but I don’t think it was a good one.” 

“What’s she going to be doing in Russell’s office?” Leo asked. 

“Will was moving her to campaign staff to do media targeting.” Josh said with some disgust. 

Leo paused to ponder that information. “I take it, then, that you’re not inclined to take Russell and Will up on their offer to join the campaign.” 

“No.” Josh said with a laugh. “I’m sorry, Leo, but I don’t see it. I don’t see what the President saw. I don’t think he’d make a good leader. A race between Russell and Hoynes, it’s your lesser of who cares, Leo.” 

“So you’re not going to take Hoynes up on his offer, either.” 

“How do you know all this stuff?” Josh smiled. “How do you know they both made me offers?” 

“Because it’s time for a Presidential election, and you’re you.” Leo shrugged. Josh tried not to hide his embarrassment. The past year it was pretty hard for him to see that Leo might still think of him like that. He’d certainly had enough reason to think he may have permanently fallen out of Leo’s good graces, politically anyway, but, Josh kept coming back to him anyway. 

“Well, it’s not Russell and it’s not Hoynes.” Josh said. “Both of them make me excited enough to vote for Vinick.” 

“If it’s not Russell and it’s not Hoynes, then who is it?” 

“I don’t know yet.” 

“I think you do. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Josh?” Donna called walking into his office, knocking on her way. Most of the lights were out. She saw he wasn’t at his desk and looked around the room. He was laying on the couch, with his eyes closed and palms pressed up to them. 

She gently closed the door and hobbled over to him and sat down next to him. “What’s the matter?” she demanded. “Are you sick?” She gently pulled his hands away from his eyes and pressed her hand to his forehead. He smiled in response to her coddling. 

“It’s just a headache.” he whispered. 

“Are you sure?” she asked softly, running her fingers across his forehead. 

“Yeah.” he smiled looking at her. But she didn’t like what she saw there. Something was bothering him. 

“What’s the matter?” she asked again, not ceasing the ministrations of her fingers. 

“How are you feeling today? Are you tired?” he misdirected. She shrugged in response. The truth was, her leg did hurt her today. She was wearing this pair of shoes for the first time and she really should have known better. She knew the White House was never a place to break in a new pair of shoes. So, she learned her lesson the hard way. By the end of the day, she was limping. And when he saw her walk, he was going to be pretty displeased with her. He hated when she pushed herself too hard, and she’d done it today. 

“Is it something you can’t tell me?” she prodded. 

“No.” he said shaking his head. “It’s something that I have to tell you actually, but I’m dreading it.” 

“What is it?” she asked trying to hide her growing alarm. 

“One of my worst nightmares.” he said, more than a little dramatically. 

“You’re making me nervous, Josh. What’s going on?” 

He sat up and draped an arm over the back of the couch. With his other hand he rubbed his eyes. “CJ’s transferring you.” he blurted. He looked up at her and blinked a couple of times to clear his vision. His head was pounding. His mind had been swirling since CJ had dropped this little bomb on him. 

“I don’t understand.” she said shaking her head. “What do you mean she’s transferring me?” 

“She’s transferring you to the vice president’s office. Will needs someone to do media targeting.” she could tell by the venom in his voice that he didn’t support this move in the slightest. 

“I don’t understand, Josh.” she said again. “She hasn’t talked to me about this at all. I didn’t ask for this.” 

“I know.” 

“Did you?” 

“God, no, Donna!” he yelped, then winced. “Why the hell would you think that?” 

“Because I’m being transferred, and I didn’t ask to be.” 

“Actually, you’re being promoted.” Josh countered. “It would be a promotion and a raise.” 

“I’m being moved away from you.” she spit out. 

He looked at her again for a long moment. “Yeah.” he said softly. 

“What if I don’t want to?” she asked. 

He paused and looked at her for a moment. “I’m not sure there’s an option.” 

“We can’t just say no?” she asked. “If I say thanks, but no thanks, I can’t stay with you?” 

He smiled at her devotion. They were so set in their roles. She did want to do more, she did want more responsibility, but she wanted it from him, and he wanted to give it to her. 

“I think her mind is made up, Donna.” he said. “I don’t think it’ll matter what either one of us says. I’ve been wracking my brain since she told me this to come up with some kind of solution. I think it’s the way it’s going to be.” 

The whole thought of it made Donna sick. Nobody would be able to work with Josh the way she did. Sure, eventually, he’d get adjusted to a new assistant, but that assistant wouldn’t make sure he ate right, that assistant certainly would not know about the PTSD and what to look for. That assistant would bring him coffee and not care in the slightest that it’s completely unhealthy for him, for his heart, for his blood pressure, that assistant wouldn’t make sure he didn’t sleep in his office. 

Donna didn’t want to work for Will; she didn’t want to work for Bingo Bob. She wanted to stay with Josh. They worked well together. And since she got back from Germany, they moved practically seamlessly into the next phase of their relationship. They proved, albeit only to themselves, that they COULD work together and have a relationship. 

But CJ was too much. Was she punishing Donna? Was she punishing them both? Was she trying to show everyone else that she should be in that job and she wouldn’t play favorites? 

“I’m sorry, Donna.” he apologized, and her gaze snapped back to his. “This is because of me.” 

“No.” she smiled. She tried to keep the tears back, but she couldn’t. She brought her hand up to his face and scooted in closer to him. “It’s because of us. They never understood us, Josh.” she said, and he gave her a half laugh in agreement. “And that’s what this is.” 

“Just the thought of you all the way over there...” he said pressing his palms back over his eyes. 

“Oh, I won’t be working over there.” Donna assured shaking her head. He dropped his hands and looked over at her. “I won’t take the job. If I’m not working for you, I’m not working for this administration.” She said it with such conviction, that Josh knew she was serious. He knew she was prepared to leave the White House behind. 

“You know you’re what’s kept me in this job, right?” he said. “I probably would have left two years ago.” 

“I know.” she nodded. “And it’s high time I returned the favor.” 

TBC


	13. In the Aftermath

“Okay.” Sam said as he began to pace the length of Donna’s living room. “It’s time we get serious about Santos then.” 

As soon as Josh and Donna walked through the door, Sam knew something was very wrong. Donna was showing evidence of crying, and Josh looked like he was run through the wringer. When they told him what CJ had done, Sam couldn’t believe it. He was stunned that CJ would stab her friends in the back like that. It never occurred to him to see the other side of the argument, that Josh and Donna were a couple and it really could be seen as inappropriate. Of course, CJ didn’t know they were a couple. She thought she was diffusing a situation before it ignited. 

“We?” Josh asked hiking up his eyebrows. 

“Yes, of course.” Sam said, stopping to look at him. 

“Sam,” Donna said. “You know I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. I mean, NO one has done more.” 

“Hello! Flew to Germany!” Josh sang next to her. 

“I mean other than you.” she corrected. 

“Thank you.” 

“You’ve been so wonderful to me...us.” she continued. “But, Sam, you have a life back in California. I mean, you have a job.” 

“Well, I had taken a leave of absence to come out here...” Sam began. Josh, who had been lounging on the couch with his arm around Donna’s shoulders, pulled away, and sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees. 

“That was months ago.” Donna said. 

“I don’t know...” Sam said thoughtfully with a sigh. “Being back here...” 

“But we wouldn’t be back here, Sam.” Josh said holding his position. “We’d be running a presidential campaign for another dark horse candidate, a candidate, by the way, that has made the decision not to run for congress again and hasn’t been fundraising, so there’s no way he can fund a presidential campaign. We’d be running a campaign for a candidate that no one has ever heard of and has no money.” 

“Yeah, sounds like a good time.” Sam smiled. 

“Wait a minute.” Donna halted, holding up her hands. “You two are crazy. You haven’t even talked to Santos yet. If he doesn’t want to run for congress, he sure as hell doesn’t want to run for president. You’re starting to make plans for a candidate you don’t have.” 

“We’re going to have to fly to Texas.” Josh said looking at Sam. 

“Commercial, no less.” Sam said. 

“Guys.” Donna said. 

“We’re going to have to be brilliant when we talk to him.” Josh said. 

“Was there any doubt we’d be anything but?” Sam replied matching the growing smirk on Josh’s face. 

“Guys.” Donna said again. 

“We’ll need a plan.” Sam said. 

“Nine points.” Josh said hopping to his feet. Now, he and Sam were both pacing the room. The excitement in the room was growing. 

“JOSHUA!” Donna shrieked. Both Sam and Josh snapped their heads in her direction. 

“What’s wrong?” Josh asked her. 

“What the hell am I supposed to while you two are off being brilliant in Texas?” she demanded. “I meant what I said, Joshua, I’m not working for the Vice President.” 

“What do you want to do?” he countered. 

“What?” she asked. 

“What do you want to do?” he repeated. 

“I don’t understand.” she said. 

“Donna, not for a single second did I think I’d go to Texas without you.” he said, as a slow smile spread across her face. 

“Really?” 

“Of course, I assumed you were doing this with me.” he said, dropping to his knees in front of her and gently brushing the hair from the sides of her face. “Was I wrong to assume that?” 

“No.” she said, still smiling. 

“So,” he grinned. “What do you want to do?” He kissed her forehead, then rose back to his feet. 

“I don’t know.” she hedged. “Will was going to have me do media targeting.” 

“Well, in the beginning, the three of us are going to be doing everything.” Sam said. “Josh is right. If he wasn’t fundraising for congress, there is no budget for this.” 

“So, we’ll split it up evenly, and you’ll find what you like.” Josh said Donna. Sam smiled at the gushing expression she gave Josh. But they had always been a team. He never treated her like an assistant; she was always his other half. 

“All right.” Sam said, predicting an intimate moment between them coming on. “I’ll be back later. I’ve got some phone calls to make and some money to wire, and...stuff.” 

“Bring back something to eat!” Donna called. 

“And call before you come back.” Josh smiled, confirming Sam’s instincts and Donna rolled her eyes. He smiled down at Donna once Sam was safely out of her apartment. She tossed him a coy look as he began to slowly walk towards her. “You know, it occurs to me that if Santos says yes, you and I will be living on quite the small budgets.” 

“I’ve always been a girl on a budget, Josh. I can be thrifty.” 

“Well, we should consider cutting down on our spending.” he continued. 

“You’re the one that’s financing a fully loaded Jeep Cherokee that you never drive.” 

“I was thinking more along the lines of you giving up your apartment and moving in with me.” he said finally reaching where she was sitting. 

He chuckled as her eyes bugged out of her head and her jaw dropped. It was too tempting for him. He sat down next to her on the couch and began to slowly kiss along her jaw. 

“You want to move in together?” she squeaked as he pulled her earlobe into his mouth. 

“All Donnatella, all the time.” he said softly bringing his hand up to her cheek as he continued to kiss his way down her neck. “It’s a dream come true.” 

“This is quite the sales pitch, Joshua.” she sighed. 

“Oh, I’m not done yet.” 

“I would hope not.” 

“Please, Donna?” he asked suddenly pulling away. 

“Please what?” she asked coyly. 

“Santos or no Santos, candidate or no candidate, please move in with me?” 

She ran her thumbs along his cheeks and took in his pleading expression. He was so unguarded now and so open. What it must take for him to ask her something like this wasn’t lost on her. He’d never considered moving in with Mandy or Amy. So, him wanting to live with her was very telling to her as to where he saw their relationship headed. 

“All Joshua, all the time.” she said softly. “It’s the best idea you’ve ever had.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam rubbed his hands together vigorously. They were now spread out over Donna’s table. Legal pads, pens, newspapers, Josh’s lap top in front of Donna, and a rather large file Donna had on Matt Santos. 

“Where did you even get this thing?” Sam asked picking the file up. 

“We have them on all members of Congress and the Senate.” she said with a shrug. 

“It was her doing.” Josh said pointing to Donna. 

“I got tired of constantly having to research how someone voted, and started to put them together in our first year.” She said. “It’s only current people.” 

“They used to be broken down by state, political affiliation and some sort of district breakdown that I could never figure out.” Josh said with a shudder. 

“You couldn’t figure any of it out.” Donna retorted with an eye roll. “They’re good old fashioned alphabetized now.” 

“I’m surprised you don’t have them indexed by the Dewey Decimal System.” he muttered under his breath. 

“That system, Joshua, has worked flawlessly for six years.” she replied. 

“You’re the only one who can figure it out.” 

“The alphabet.” 

“THESE are alphabetical.” he said tapping the folder Sam was thumbing through. “Don’t get me going on legislation, Sam. I tear up just thinking about it.” 

“As you should.” she said. “It’s set up that way to scare you. If you’re scared of it, you’ll stay away from it, and if you’re staying away from it, you won’t mess it up.” 

“Well, that was enlightening.” Josh said taking a sip of his beer. 

“When are we going to talk to Santos?” Sam asked. 

“Congress is on break.” Josh replied. “We’re going to have to go to Texas, and we’re going to have to do it soon because he’ll need to think it over, I’m sure, and we don’t want to miss the filing deadline.” 

“Christmas Eve.” Donna said. 

“How are we both going to be out of the office on Christmas Eve?” 

“It’s called vacation time, Joshua.” Donna reminded. 

“Of which I have next to none left.” he replied. The impact of his words hit her like a brick. He used nearly all his vacation time helping her recover? Somewhere along the way, she’d become more important to him than politics. That was a heady feeling in relation to him. Josh lived and breathed politics. It’s what got under his skin and got his blood boiling. It’s all he ever wanted to do with his life, and all he had ever done in his life. 

In moments such as these, Donna was hard pressed not to draw dissimilarities between her relationship with Josh and his past ones. In this instance, years ago, he had canceled his impromptu vacation to Tahiti with Amy to stay at the White House for a phone call. Now, he had used up nearly all his vacation time helping Donna. 

“We’ll fly there and back in the same day.” she said. 

“We could stay over.” Sam said. 

“The next day is Christmas.” Josh said. “We don’t want to be in a hotel or a plane on Christmas.” 

“What do you care?” Sam replied. “You’re Jewish.” 

“Donna will care.” Josh said simply and Donna smiled at him. 

“All right, fine.” Sam sighed. “There and back in the same day. I just hate doing that when I’m not on Air Force One.” 

“Doesn’t everybody?” Josh replied. “But Sam, if we’re right, and we are, we’ll be flying on Air Force One again.” 

TBC


	14. In the Aftermath

“You have a beautiful home.” Donna said to Helen Santos in the Santoses kitchen. Helen had come to get everyone drinks, and Donna had offered to help. This was really Josh and Sam’s pitch to the congressman. Though Donna hoped it would change, at the moment, Josh and Sam were really the brains behind the whole thing. 

“Thanks.” Helen said. “I just can’t believe...” she trailed off with a smile. 

“That we’re standing in your house, asking you to leave it behind for the better part of a year?” Donna smiled. 

“Yeah.” she laughed. “Matt wasn’t going back to Congress. He wanted to spend more time with the kids. Will that work with a presidential campaign?” 

Donna had suspected this might go this way with Mrs. Santos. Helen was hoping she could get honest answers out of Donna about what it would be like. She felt a little uncomfortable about talking about campaign life without talking to Josh and Sam first about what she should say, but on the other hand, the Santoses deserved to hear the truth, as well. 

“No.” Donna answered honestly. “Yes, he will get home to see them. We’d even want to bring them out to us, depending on what the event is. If he took the nomination, there’s more money and he’d be able to get home slightly more than during the primaries. But mostly, he’d be on the road.” 

“Then why would I agree to this?” she asked bluntly. 

“Because if he wins, and Josh and Sam are good at making men presidents, they’ve got experience here,” Donna said, she figured if Helen could be blunt, so could she. “You and your family will live in the White House, where the kids can walk downstairs and see their dad virtually whenever they want, and vice versa. He could easily go upstairs and see them when they get home from school. He could easily go up to the residence for dinner and bedtime and go back to the Oval Office, if need be. Essentially, he’d be working from home for four years.” 

“Interesting pitch.” Helen complimented. 

“There’s not many promises I can make you, Mrs. Santos.” Donna said. “But I’ll make you this one. If you and the Congressman agree to run, you will always get an honest, straight-forward answer from me. Josh and Sam, they’re not going to want to tangle with you and piss you off. They’ve dealt with Abbey Bartlet too many times when she’s unhappy, and it’s not always pleasant. But me, I promise to tell it to you like it is. It might not be what you want to hear, in fact, I’m guessing it rarely ever will be what you want to hear, but I’ll be honest.” 

“Well, I appreciate that.” Helen smiled. “What I don’t understand though, is why you would be willing to give up your job in the White House for this.” 

“Josh believes in the Congressman, and I believe in Josh.” Donna said simply. “Mrs. Santos, the last man Josh believed in is now in his seventh year as president. Josh only works for the real thing; he thinks your husband is the real thing.” 

“My husband is many things, Donna.” Helen laughed. “Josh’s real thing, I don’t know about.” She picked up a tray of glasses, and Donna picked up another tray that had bottles of beer and wine on it and followed Helen back to the living room where Josh and Sam were still talking to the Congressman. 

It sounded like things were winding down. Matt Santos still sounded like he couldn’t believe they were talking about this. 

“Now, my wife and I haven’t discussed this at all yet, so I’m not making any commitment until we do,” Matt was saying. “But take me through how this works. Josh is the muscle and Sam’s the voice?” 

“Pretty much.” Josh nodded. “I’ll be the campaign manager and Sam will be, officially anyway, my deputy, but I think you’ll find that he will pretty much just be extension of me.” 

“And you?” Santos asked turning to Donna. 

“Until we can hire a larger staff,” Josh answered instead. “Donna will do all the advance work, filter the press requests, handle image. She’ll wear many hats. Once we have a bigger budget and can hire people to take the knucklehead stuff from her, she’ll have a more defined role.” 

“Aren’t you lucky?” Santos smiled at Donna. 

“Well, there’s no better teacher, so yeah, I am.” she replied, and Josh beamed, dropping his gaze briefly before looking back up at her. 

“Well, that’s some compliment.” Matt said. 

“Yeah, I think Josh is actually blushing.” Sam laughed. “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Josh blush.” 

“All right, all right.” Josh said. “Let’s get back on track.” 

“Well, you’ve certainly given my wife and I a lot to argue over tonight.” Matt said standing up. Josh and Sam followed his lead. 

“Sir,” Josh said. “I know you’ve got a lot to think about, both of you, and a lot to weigh, but the deadline is only two weeks away, and we’ve got jobs to give notice to. So, we only ask that you let us know sooner rather than later.” 

“Sure.” Matt said shaking their hands. “Merry Christmas.” 

They returned the greeting and showed themselves out. 

“So?” Josh asked Donna as they pulled away from the Santos house. 

“So what?” she asked. 

“You disappeared with Helen Santos for, like, ten minutes.” he said. 

“Yeah.” she said non-committally. 

“So, what’d she say?” Sam pressed. 

“I complimented her on her house; she said thank you.” Donna said. 

“Donna!” Josh said, growing impatient with her game. “Surely she made some kind of comment about us dropping by totally unannounced on Christmas Eve and asking her husband to run for president.” 

“Why? Do you think that’s shocking?” Donna asked in mock innocence. 

“I will leave you on the side of the road, Donnatella.” Josh threatened. 

“Well, that’s an empty threat if I ever heard one.” she scoffed. 

“I’ll make you work tomorrow.” 

“And I’ll deny you sex.” she shot back. 

“Well, that’s just ruining your Christmas, but if you feel that’s what you have to do...” Josh smirked. 

“You’re impossible.” 

“Mostly.” 

“All right, Donna.” Sam said from the back seat. “Stop playing around now.” 

“I think he can convince her if he says the right things.” Donna said evasively. 

“What the hell does that mean?” Josh demanded. 

“Just that.” Donna says. “If he says the words she wants to hear, she’ll probably agree.” 

“Well, what are the words?” Sam asked. “Let’s call him up and tell him to say them!” 

TBC


	15. In the Aftermath

CJ approached Donna’s cubicle cautiously. She watched as Donna was alternating between rubbing her eyes and packing a box. Every now and then, Donna would look longingly towards Josh’s office. CJ got the distinct impression that Donna was crying as she was packing her desk. They didn’t understand, CJ thought. They didn’t know what it was like to be the one in the room, the one no one in the room thought should be there, no one in the building thought should be there. Decisions weren’t easy, and she was no longer afforded the luxury of having friends on the staff, or at least ignoring certain things that were going on with those friends. She had taken on an awesome responsibility. Leo had made it look effortless, like he was born to do that job. She still didn’t think she could do it. That job should be Josh’s. She knew it, everyone in the building, hell, the city, knew it. 

“Donna?” CJ asked softly. 

Donna quickly rubbed her eyes, straightened her posture and tried to gain her composure. 

“What, CJ?” Donna asked coldly. She didn’t care that she was addressing the White House Chief of Staff. CJ had stabbed her in the back. As far as Donna was concerned, CJ was no friend of hers. 

“I just wanted to let you know that Josh didn’t ask to have you transferred or anything.” CJ said quietly. “He was pretty upset about it.” 

Donna stopped what she was doing and looked CJ right in the eye. “I know.” 

“Will needed help.” CJ defended. “He needs someone to do media targeting. I thought you’d be good at that. You’re moving up and getting a raise.” CJ hesitated before continuing. “Plus, you won’t report directly to Josh anymore.” 

“Yeah, thanks for the career help there, CJ.” Donna said dismissively. Just as she finished piling the rest of her stuff in the box, Josh emerged from his office. He had his coat on and his backpack over his shoulder, and he didn’t even spare CJ a second glance. 

“Got everything?” he asked gesturing to the box. 

“Mmm-hmm.” Donna replied, obviously trying to hold the tears at bay. She grabbed her coat and as quickly as she could, ran out of the bullpen. Josh picked up the box and turned to CJ. 

“You did that.” he said darkly. “And for what? You don’t understand what makes she and I tick, and so you’re scared. You made her cry, CJ. And I will never forgive you for it.” 

Without another word, he left the bullpen after Donna. CJ sighed and walked towards his office door. It was dark inside and she leaned against the doorframe. Something seemed off about the room, and she squinted to see better. Finally, she turned on the light and her eyes widened at what she saw. 

All of Josh’s personal effects were gone. The office was nearly bare. 

“Yeah. There’s something you and I need to discuss.” She turned around and was face to face with the President.. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Damn, I forgot how cold New Hampshire was!” Sam said loudly as he jumped up and down in place. 

“Too much Southern California in your blood.” Josh said, scrolling through the messages on his Blackberry. The three of them with Ronna were standing to the side as Matt Santos was shaking hands and introducing himself. 

“I just think we put too much emphasis on New Hampshire.” Sam said blowing onto his hands. “We should start a new trend. We should make Arizona the new New Hampshire, you know, start election season off someplace warm.” 

“The difference between New Hampshire and Arizona is only one electoral vote.” Donna replied. “Don’t you think you’d rather start in California with its 54 electoral votes?” 

“Oh, I LOVE it when she talks electoral math!” Josh said. “It’s so hot!” 

“Joshua,” Donna said placatingly. “Ronna doesn’t know us yet. Maybe you could wait a little longer before you become... well, you, around her.” 

“Oh, he won’t offend me.” Ronna said waving her mitten covered hand. 

“He might.” Donna and Sam chimed together. 

“What do you care if she’s offended by me anyway?” Josh asked Donna. “It’s not like I’m looking for a date.” 

“It’s just as good, you’re not my type.” Ronna said. 

“Really?” Josh asked lowering his Blackberry and looking at her. “How do you know? Donna fell in love with me, and she’s not the first. I’m a very charming guy.” Donna rolled her eyes to Sam and shook her head, not even bothering to acknowledge Josh’s outlandish remarks. 

“That’s the problem.” Ronna replied. 

“What? That I’m charming?” 

“No, that you’re a guy.” Ronna replied. 

Josh’s eyes widened, Donna’s jaw dropped, and Sam laughed out loud. 

“Okay, well, you stay away from Donna.” Josh said recovering first. “She’s mine.” 

Ronna rolled her eyes, as Donna smacked Josh on the arm. “Why is it that once someone finds out that a person is gay, they immediately think they’re these crazed, uncontrollable sex fiends?” Ronna demanded. “Just because Donna’s a woman, doesn’t mean I’m going to hit on her all the time.” 

“Why not?” Josh asked crossing his arms and leaning up against his Cherokee. “She’s a very beautiful woman.” 

“Yes, she is. But that doesn’t mean she’s my type.” 

“What’s your type? Butch?” 

“Are you always this impossible?” 

“Yes.” Sam and Donna chorused. 

“Listen, just because I’m a woman and she’s a woman, doesn’t mean I’m going to hit on her.” 

“I have a friend that’s gay, he hits on me all the time.” Josh said. 

“It’s not me!” Sam exclaimed when he saw Ronna’s eyes flicker over to him. 

“Josh, let it go.” Donna said. “She wouldn’t hit on me anyway, I’m not gay and I’ve got you. You don’t hit on women with boyfriends, why would she?” 

“Except he hit on Amy when she was with Tandy.” Sam said. “In fact, he stole Amy from Tandy.” 

“Sam.” Josh said quickly, shaking his head fiercely. Sam looked over at Donna, who was glaring menacingly at Sam. 

“We don’t say her name.” Donna said in a deadly voice. 

“As a matter of fact, he stole you from Colin.” Sam pointed out. 

“We don’t say HIS name either, Sam.” Josh said. 

“You know, Ronna, that really doesn’t apply to Josh. Other relationships have never stopped him before. I’m starting to think he’s more of a homewrecker.” Sam said. 

Ronna chuckled at the destruction it appeared Sam left in his wake. He seemed blissfully ignorant of the fact that Josh and Donna now seemed to be seething, though at who exactly, she couldn’t quite tell. 

She had no idea whether they’d be knocked out before Super Tuesday, lose it at the convention or go all the way to the White House. But one thing was becomingly delightfully obvious. Traveling with these three was going to be quite the experience! 

TBC


	16. In the Aftermath

"I'm going to the vending machine." Donna announced, dropping her tote bag on the bed in their hotel room. "You want anything?" 

“Can you get me a bottle of water?" Josh requested. 

"Sure." she nodded. She headed out of their room and down the hall. When she reached the vending machine, she bought two bottles of water. She bent down to retrieve them, and when she rose up again, she froze. 

"Amy! Hi!" Donna said, plastering a fake smile onto her look of surprise. 

"Hi, Donna." Amy said, with her token unreadable expression. 

"What brings you to New Hampshire?" 

"Debate prep for the congressman." Amy answered, likewise buying a bottle of water. 

"Congressman..." Donna prompted, deliberately trailing off. 

"Santos." Amy said. "Your candidate." 

"Oh, great!" Donna said with forced enthusiasm. "Well, I really look forward to working with you." 

"Yeah, it'll be fun to work with Josh again." Amy said throwing Donna a challenging look before breezing by her. 

Donna turned deliberately on her heel and walked menacingly back to her room. When she entered, Josh was sitting on the bed with the phone propped on his shoulder and was looking at a newspaper. Sam was at the table of the room on his lap top. Josh glanced up when Donna came back in the room, then looked back down at the newspaper. He never saw the aqua missile get hurled at his head. 

"Ow!" he cried grabbing the side of his head. "What the hell!?" 

"You asshole!" she yelled. Josh and Sam's eyes widened as they took note of her stony face and rigid posture. "You hired AMY to do debate prep?" 

"What?" 

"Amy!" 

"Amy who?" he asked. 

"Don't you Amy who me!" Donna yelled hurling her bottle of water at him, too, which he deftly deflected this time. "Amy freaking Gardner your trampy ex witch!" 

"You know what?" Sam said to no one in particular. "I'm just going to go...well, somewhere that's not here." 

"Maybe you could find out what's going on." Josh suggested as Sam grabbed his laptop to flee, presumably to his own room. After he left the room, Josh turned back to a heaving Donna. "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, Donna. I haven't hired Amy to do anything." 

"I just saw her in the hallway and she said that she was hired to do debate prep for the congressman. YOU'RE the campaign manager; you're the one that does the hiring." 

"Well, typically, yes." he admitted. "But I haven't hired her to do anything. I do not have a death wish." 

“What the hell does that mean?” she demanded. 

“This!” he shouted gesturing to his red head. “You threw a God damn water bottle at my head! Do you have any idea how much it hurts?” 

The fight left her then and she sighed and sat down next to him. She didn’t want to fight him, especially since it appeared she’d have to be fighting Amy soon. He was telling her the truth. He could never look her in the eye and lie to her. Any time he had to be evasive about something with work, or when he didn’t tell her the whole truth, he never looked her in the eye, unlike what he was doing right now. 

She leaned over and pressed a light kiss to his temple. “I’m sorry.” she whispered. “It’s just... she’s just so much better at this than me.” 

“That’s not true.” Josh said instantly. 

“Josh, she’s been doing this a lot longer than I have.” 

“That doesn’t mean she’s better at it.” he said shaking his head. “Amy will never get further than she is right now because she’s not a team player. I don’t know what the Congressman is thinking by hiring her, Donna, because I swear, I knew nothing about it. But, I know this. If she gives anyone shit, she’s out of here.” 

“You can’t undermine the Congressman.” Donna said sadly. 

“I don’t have to. I just have to point out why Sam and I weren’t inclined to bring her in in the first place.” Josh assured. “And do me a favor. Stay away from her, Donna. I don’t want her trying to give you shit to do, just because she thinks she can.” 

“I’m really sorry about your head.” she said softly. 

“Don’t worry about it, I was born with it.” he smirked. She smiled softly, kissed his cheek and dropped her head onto his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him from the side. “I don’t want Amy, Donna.” he said softly, leaning his head against hers. 

“I wasn’t afraid you did.” she said. 

“No?” 

“Okay. Maybe a little bit.” she confessed with a soft smile. “You get weird around her.” 

He turned his head and kissed her forehead. “I don’t want Amy.” he repeated. “I always wanted you more than her, and I want you to remember that while we’re stuck doing...whatever...with her.” 

“Kay.” 

“She’ll try and make you think otherwise, Donna.” he said. 

“I trust you.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

“I should have known you’d stay with Josh.” Will said appearing at Donna’s side at the debate hall. 

“The reason why Josh and I are so good together,” Donna replied. “is because we share the same goals, and same beliefs. It’s why we clicked from the start, Will. But thanks for your offer. I’m flattered you thought more of me professionally than as an assistant.” 

“I wasn’t saying anything bad, Donna.” Will replied. “On the contrary, I find Josh’s devotion to you a welcome surprise.” 

“A surprise?” Donna asked. “Why is everyone so surprised to discover that Josh cares about more than himself?” 

“Because he doesn’t, Donna.” Will replied. “At least not professionally. He has shown repeatedly he’ll stop at nothing to win. But ever since he came back from Germany, he’s let people see a side of him that’s vulnerable.” 

“Josh isn’t vulnerable.” Donna adamantly defended. “And you’re supposed to be his friend, Will.” 

“Donna, it’s time to get your head out of the clouds.” Will replied. “We’re all here for the same reason, to get our guy the nomination and stop everyone else. The innocent farm girl routine may work on the Hoynes camp, but I’ve actually worked with you guys. I know all Josh and Sam’s tricks. I got a dead guy elected, Donna.” 

“Oh please, you were blindsided by the chickens.” Donna scoffed. 

“That was a sophomoric stunt.” Will replied. 

“We’re here.” 

“By luck.” 

“By strategy, Will.” 

“You’re a nice person, Donna, and a good friend.” Will said with a sigh. “You had the opportunity to show the Democratic Party what you can do outside of Josh Lyman’s shadow. What’s he going to do? Drag you around with him forever? Don’t you ever want to show everyone you’re your own person?” 

“Donna.” came Josh’s voice of steel from behind them. Donna and Will turned over their shoulders to see Josh standing there, with a firm jaw and fire in his eyes. “I need you to go help Sam with spin.” She gave him an apprehensive look, but left to find Sam anyway. 

“Are you going to show your teeth now, Josh?” Will droned. 

“Nah.” Josh said watching the stage where the debate was still taking place. “I’m actually in a good mood, Will. Between the Congressman’s performance in this debate, which is head and shoulders above Russell’s, and the huge jump in polls we’re about to get from the Congressman’s spontaneous live ad on t.v. just before the debate that’s about to be picked up nationally, I’m on top of the world.” 

“What are you talking about?” Will asked. 

“Oh, you’ll see.” Josh assured. 

“Your Jedi mind tricks won’t work on me, Josh.” Will said. “I worked with you, remember? I know how you operate.” 

“They won’t?” Josh asked in mock shock. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to resort to good ol’ threats then. Stay the hell away from Donna and stop trying to recruit her. She’s where she wants to be, and she’s doing everything she wants to do. Two years in Washington doesn’t make you any sort of match for us, Will. You’d do better to just sit back and learn a thing or two. This is not my first dark horse candidate.” 

“Some would say you have experience in that area.” Will agreed. 

“As evidence by the sitting President.” Josh countered. 

“I’m not a babe in the woods here, Josh.” Will replied. “I got a dead guy elected. The man died, Josh.” 

“And it’s a smart move on your part,” Josh nodded. “Not veering away from your forte.” 

“You’re hysterical.” Will sneered. “And think what you want, but it IS still the Vice President of the United States that you’re referring to, and I know you have more respect for that office than that.” 

“Then you don’t know me well.” Josh countered softly. “You don’t have experience fighting me and Sam, Will. The last guy we picked is sitting in the Oval Office. Don’t expect anything less this time around. And you feel the same way about Russell that everyone else does. You were part of the nomination, and you know why he passed. Everybody read Toby’s and your great oratory that day on the teleprompter. You’re too new to the game to sell yourself out so soon.” 

“Oh? When exactly IS the right time to sell myself out then? When I’m Chief of Staff under President Russell?” 

Josh glanced at the stage and then back to Will. “You know what, Will? I tried to save you. I tried to give you the opportunity to come on board with us and learn how to really get a man elected President. Now? You can read about it in my memoirs.” Without another word, or affording Will the opportunity to continue the argument, Josh left his side to return to Donna and Sam. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What the hell is this?” Donna demanded as she and Sam entered the conference room that Amy and the Congressman had been using for debate prep. Sam’s jaw dropped when they had seen that Josh was bound to a chair by duct tape. 

“Oh, relax.” Amy scoffed returning her attention to the t.v. as Donna rescued Josh. 

“She tied me up.” he said needlessly as Donna gingerly pulled the duct tape off his mouth. 

“What are you, 15?” Sam asked Amy. 

“Well, she couldn’t keep him any other way.” Donna mumbled, though everyone heard it anyway. 

“All right, children.” Josh admonished, but the smirk he gave Donna took the sting off his words. 

“In my life, Joshua,” Amy said. “I will never figure out how that mind of yours works. Between the chickens and this debate, forcing Hoynes and Russell over to your side? It’s a wonder every democrat in the party isn’t dropping their jobs to join you.” 

“Wow, a compliment.” Donna said, eyes wide. 

“I’ve always got good things to say about J.” Amy said, casting Donna a condescending glare. 

“Well, thanks for your help.” Sam said dismissively. “Though as it turns out, we didn’t need it anyway.” 

“No. I don’t imagine two of Bartlet’s dream team would need much help from a mere mortal.” Amy said rising out of her chair and draping her attache chase over her shoulder. She started walking out the door, but stopped right in front of Josh. “Seriously, Josh, soon, the entire party, and then the entire country will see what you did.” She tossed him one last saucy look, then sauntered out the door. 

“Good riddance.” Donna said, throwing the empty door a look of disgust. 

TBC


	17. In the Aftermath

“You fired Amy!?” Santos asked incredulously walking into the conference room. 

“Yes.” Josh said. 

“Who’s running the show here?” Santos countered. 

“We are.” Josh replied. 

“So I get no say?” Matt replied. “It’s my candidacy, my reputation, my life, my career on the line, my name in the history books, and I get NO say in who helps me do it?” 

“Of course you do, sir.” Josh replied. “That’s why you hired us.” 

“I’m a fish out of water here, Josh.” Matt countered. “She was helping me find the Presidential voice.” 

“Presidential voice?” Josh asked. “You ARE the voice, sir. What the hell do you think I’m doing here? What do you think any of us are doing here?” 

“I don’t know.” Matt said lowering his voice. “I ask myself that very same question nearly every day.” 

Josh’s eyes widened in surprise. This wasn’t the first time Josh got the impression that Matt Santos wasn’t in it to win it. Sam, being an expert at reading his friend, saw the eruption about to begin and jumped in. “Sir, you did amazing in the debate.” Sam began. “You did fantastic in the television ad. You’ve stayed true to yourself and we applaud that. There was a reason we didn’t bring Amy in on debate prep and it has nothing to do with her past history with Josh. Amy doesn’t play for any one team; she plays for everybody. That’s bad in the primaries. Amy, with her presidential voice and canned quotes, made you sound like everyone else. You’re not everyone else, and that’s why you’re going to win.” 

“He’s a lot better with words than you.” Santos noted to Josh with the hint of an apologetic grin. 

“That’s why he currently is handling all the speechwriting.” Josh replied. 

“What happened to your head?” Matt asked gesturing to the impressive bruise at Josh’s temple where Donna’s water bottle had hit it’s mark the night before. 

“The truth?” Josh asked him staring at him straight on. 

“You don’t always tell me the truth?” 

“My good natured, delicate girlfriend did that with a water bottle last night when she found out Amy was hired.” Josh explained. 

Matt’s eyes widened and he unsuccessfully covered a laugh. “Donna did that?” he asked incredulously. 

“Yes, sir.” Josh nodded. 

“She’s a bit of a spitfire, huh?” 

“You have no idea, sir.” 

“She doesn’t come across that way.” 

“No. Most of the time she’s my good natured, delicate Donna, but when she’s pissed, she throws heat.” 

“No wonder Helen likes her so much.” Santos chuckled. “All right. You two win. I won’t get involved in who you do and don’t hire.” 

“Thank you, sir.” Sam said. 

“Unless we win the convention.” Matt amended. “I assume I get to pick my running mate at the very least?” 

“We will win the convention, sir.” Josh noted. “Amy was right about one thing tonight. The entire Democratic party sat up and took notice of you tonight, sir. We’ll have momentum going into the convention.” 

“I didn’t mean to be so snappy before.” Santos said by way of apology. “It’s just I’ve never been a part of something this big before and it’s tough being away from my family like this. Helen’s got reporters calling her, she has no idea what to say to them. It’s a little more stressful than I had anticipated.” 

“What about sending Donna to Texas?” Sam suggested. 

“What!?” Josh yelped. 

“Why?” Matt asked. 

“Well, you said that Mrs. Santos liked her. Maybe if she got to spend a little more time with Donna, worked with her a bit, Donna handled some of the press calls and sort of showed Mrs. Santos the ropes, she’d feel a little more comfortable.” 

“That’s not a bad idea.” Matt said. 

“That’s a TERRIBLE idea!” Josh protested. 

“Why?” Matt asked. 

“Well...” Josh began but trailed off. 

“Josh, tell me one thing that’s wrong with that idea that ISN’T personal.” Sam challenged. When Josh couldn’t come up with a viable answer, Sam continued. “She’s a valued member of this campaign, Josh. Right?” 

“Yes.” he mumbled. 

“She’ll do well with Mrs. Santos for a few days and Mrs. Santos will do well, too.” Sam finished. 

“I’m going to call my wife.” Matt announced. “Good idea, Sam.” Matt turned and left the room. 

“I’m going to kill you, Sam.” Josh growled. 

“It’ll only be a couple of days.” Sam assured. “Besides, did you see the Congressman’s face? Did you see how he missed his wife? How concerned for her he was? An unhappy Helen Santos could put the kibosh on the whole thing. Donna’s got a way with people, and Helen seems to like her.” 

“Yeah, but....” 

“But what, Josh?” Sam prodded. 

“She hasn’t been by herself since the explosion.” Josh said lowering his voice, even though they were alone. 

“Oh.” Sam said. “Well, she’s going to have to be sooner or later, Josh. When we take the nomination, there will be times you two are separated. ” 

It wasn’t that Sam didn’t have sympathy for Josh and Donna’s position. He did. He was there every step of the way after she got back from Germany, too. But Josh knew the way things went, and it really was a little implausible for them to think they’d never be separated at night, even if it wasn’t a conscious effort on their part, if they took the White House, Josh would probably be Chief of Staff. There’d be plenty of nights they’d be separated then. It was best they started to get used to it. 

Josh sighed, rubbed a hand down his face and left the room intent to head back to his and Donna’s room. It was an irrational fear, he knew. Donna was a grown woman, and perfectly capable of taking care of herself. It was just he was so used to protecting her, so used to being there for her for everything she needed. Not that she needed much lately. She was physically recovered and back to fretting over him. 

Josh smiled as he got on the elevator and rode it up to their floor. Lynn Moss was right, they really were a bit of a dysfunctional mess. But it always seemed to work for them. He never really thought of himself as co-dependent until she was hurt and he was faced with the possibility of losing her. Sitting on the long flight to Germany and barely breathing while the plane seemed to creep along in the sky was a memory that was still painfully fresh in his mind. Until that moment, he had always let himself assume that he was professionally dependent on her, maybe a little more so since Rosslyn. But when she was hurt, and he didn’t know if she was alive or dead, and he sat on the plane and had to remind himself to breathe, the truth of the situation was clear. 

He let himself into their room, it only took three tries, and she was curled up in the bed watching CNN. 

“What took you so long?” she smiled in greeting. 

“The Congressman came in a few minutes after you left.” he said, as he began to strip off his suit. 

“Was he pissed about, you know, HER?” Donna asked, not being able to bring herself to say Amy’s name. 

“At first, yeah.” Josh shrugged. “But between Sam and I, mostly Sam, he came around.” 

“So, you’ve been down there all this time fighting with the Congressman again?” she smiled sadly. Neither Donna, Sam, nor Josh had realized just how often they’d be butting heads with the Congressman. Donna often wondered if Leo and President Bartlet spent this much time arguing with each other. 

“And Sam a bit, too.” Josh sighed, crawling under the covers to join her. 

“Sam?” she frowned, dropping her head on his shoulder. “Why?” 

“Sam came up with the brilliant idea of sending you to Texas to hang out for a few days with Helen Santos.” 

“You don’t like that idea?” she asked perching her chin up on his chest. 

“No, it’s a good idea.” he admitted. He wasn’t about to tell her his irrational thought of not sending her because he thought he’d miss her too much. “I think it’ll go a long way in making Helen feel more comfortable, and thus, putting the Congressman’s insecurities to rest. He’s afraid he doesn’t belong here.” 

“He doesn’t.” Donna smiled. “He belongs in the White House.” 

“You think we’ll put him there?” Josh smirked. 

“Oh yeah.” she nodded. “Listen, I’m no fan of Amy’s, but she was right. You have amazing instincts Josh. You have the killer instincts, the Congressman’s got the vision, and Sam’s got the words. It’s the trifecta.” 

“What about you?” he asked softly. “What do you have?” 

“Faith in you.” she shrugged. 

He smiled lightly and lifted his head to meet hers in a kiss. It wasn’t intended to be a deep kiss, but it quickly became one. She sighed softly as they rolled over and he settled above her. She looked up at him through dreamy and trusting eyes. He dipped his head and kissed her again, telling himself for the umpteenth time that she was a grown woman and perfectly capable of taking care of herself, but it did nothing to squelch the nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach. 

TBC


	18. In the Aftermath

“Hello, Josh! Are you paying attention?” Sam asked nudging Josh again. 

“Mmm? What?” Josh asked. They were on the campaign bus and Sam had been going over Ricki Rafferty’s health initiative speech and trying to get Josh’s attention. 

“What’s the matter with you?” Sam smiled. “You’ve been spacing out since Donna left.” 

“I don’t know.” he said. “Nothing. Say whatever it is you were saying again.” 

“‘Obliterate the money-laundering middleman between you and your doctor.’” Sam read. 

“Sounds like you.” Josh noted and looked down at the appearance schedule in his lap. 

“Right.” Sam said. 

“You’re not ghosting for Ricki Rafferty, are you, Sam?” Josh teased. 

“No, are you?” Sam countered more seriously. 

“You’re kidding me, right?” Josh replied. 

“Obliterate the money-laundering middleman between you and your doctor.” Sam repeated. 

“Okay. So, if it’s not me and it’s not you...” Josh began. 

“But it sounds like me...” Sam trailed off and looked knowingly at Josh. 

“No.” Josh said. “Toby?” 

“Who else would it be?” Sam replied. 

“Toby wouldn’t go up against us.” Josh said “I mean, don’t you think he’d at least say something?” Josh pulled the Senator’s health initiative plan over to his lap and began to read it more thoroughly. 

“Maybe this is him saying something.” Sam shrugged. “It’s not like we asked him to join us.” 

“We can’t afford him.” Josh argued. 

“We didn’t tell him that either.” 

“You think he’s doing this because he’s pissed at us?” 

“I don’t know.” Sam said. “But you, me, Toby, Melanie and Ken worked on that, and Melanie and Ken didn’t do any writing. So, if you didn’t write that, and I didn’t write that...” 

“Maybe it was the President.” Josh suggested half-heartedly. 

“You don’t believe that any more than I do.” 

“No, I don’t.” Josh sighed. “So, do we ask him?” 

“Who wants to be the lucky one to do that?” Sam asked grimly. 

“What if we fire back?” Josh suggested. “What if we come out with something just as strongly worded, telling him to back off?” 

“I don’t know.” Sam hedged. “I’d hate to start something if we’re either A, wrong; or B, he’s just pissed at us and isn’t actually going to take it any further. Why don’t we just keep an eye on it?”   
Josh chuckled at Sam’s response and Sam frowned. “What?” 

“Leo used to tell me that he’d get frustrated because the President would take him to the middle ground and he couldn’t get real on anything.” Josh smiled. “I just find this ironic.” 

“I’m not the candidate.” 

“Now.” Josh said. 

“Oh, don’t you start, too.” 

“Too?” 

“President Bartlet said the same thing to me once.” 

“Oh, well if he and I are BOTH saying the same thing, then it naturally has no merit.” Josh said sarcastically. 

“We’re running Santos right now, Josh.” Sam said. “I ran for office once, it’s was a disaster.” 

“That was a suicide mission.” Josh waved. 

“I’m not getting into this with you now.” Sam dismissed. “We’re running Santos. When we win that, it’ll be the Santos administration. And sometimes the middle ground isn’t such a bad place to be.” 

“And sometimes, you blow the doors off the place.” Josh replied gesturing to the text in front of him. 

“We need the White House.” Sam said. 

“Oh hell no, I do not.” Josh said emphatically. “CJ with her backstabbing ways, Toby with his simple answer to just shut down when he’s pissed or pull this crap, and Leo...” 

When Josh didn’t appear interested in continuing with the Leo thought, Sam didn’t push. Sam knew that Josh and Leo’s relationship was pretty strained over the last year. Though Josh wouldn’t come out and tell Sam, Sam had known Josh for many years, and knew what it looked like when Josh detached himself from someone. He was distancing himself from the White House. Whatever his plans were for the future, they didn’t include anyone that worked there now. 

Sam wasn’t so idealistic that he actually thought they could get the old team together again. CJ was obviously a little higher up on the pay scale and not likely to take a step down, and Toby obviously was too mad about whatever to want to do anything with them. Neither one of them had shown any sign that they remembered they’d all been friends once, too. 

What CJ had done to Josh and Donna was shocking to say the least. The CJ Sam knew would never have made a unilateral decision like that without at least confronting either Josh or Donna to find out whether there was any merit to her suspicions or not. The CJ Sam knew would be happy that Josh and Donna had finally made their way to one another. But CJ seemed to be driven by power now. 

Toby wouldn’t even take their calls. If there was a more immature response to someone making a career change, Sam hadn’t heard of it. To stop speaking to them because Josh had gone out to find the next candidate was childish to say the least. 

Sam suspected the real issues there were that they no longer had their whipping boy. Leo and Toby often sent Josh out to fight battles with no sort of protective armor, and sometimes, as it turned out, no actual support. And Josh, because Josh was good at what he did, usually won. He usually won the impossible fights. Impossible fights were where he lived. 

They were both distracted by the ringing of Josh’s cell phone. He looked at the caller i.d. and smiled. The only person making Josh smile lately was Donna, so Sam got up and moved to another part of the bus to afford Josh some privacy. 

“Hey, beautiful.” Josh greeted. “Did you just land?” 

“Yeah.” Donna said as she walked through the Houston Airport towards the car rental desk. “Listen, don’t fly off the handle when I tell you this.” 

“Toby’s ghost writing for Ricki Rafferty?” 

“No... What!?” Donna said. 

“Okay. We’ll get to that part later. Tell me your thing.” 

“CJ hired Cliff Calley as her deputy.” 

Donna cringed at Josh’s silence. He could feel his whole body tensing up. Of course, CJ didn’t know the history there. MAYBE Donna might have told her in passing once that she and Cliff had briefly dated, but only Josh, Donna, and Cliff knew about the diary bit. And Josh HATED sharing that kind of secret with him. Back in the deep depths of his brain, Josh knew that Cliff was actually a decent guy, as evidenced by the diary and Leo’s hearing, but the fact that he’d spent two nights with Donna, then read all about Josh’s life was enough for Josh’s dislike to turn to hate. 

“Josh?” 

“What?” 

“You heard what I said?” 

“Yes.” 

“You don’t have an opinion on that?” 

“I have many opinions on that.” 

“CJ hired a Republican to be her deputy in an election year.” Donna continued. 

“That wasn’t the first thing that came to mind.” Josh said. Now, it was his turn to cringe a bit at Donna’s silence. 

“They’re not all winners in your past either, Josh.” she said tightly. 

“I know.” he sighed. “I’m sorry.” 

“All right. This is ridiculous.” Donna sighed. “We can’t do this anymore.” 

“Do what?” he asked anxiously. 

“Keep being pissed at each other for the people in our past that we’ve dated and slept with. It’s ridiculous.” Donna said. 

“Yeah.” he agreed. “I have no idea how I’m going to be able to do that, but you’re right.” 

“You’ll summon the strength from somewhere, Josh.” Donna said. “Pull it from...oh, I don’t know...your love for me.” 

“I DO love you.” 

“I know.” 

“And I miss you.” 

“I’ve been away from you for eight hours.” 

“It really sucks, Donna.” 

“We’ve been parted before, Josh.” 

“Yeah, but last time...” he cut himself when he realized he was going. 

“I’m in Houston, Texas.” she reminded him. 

“I was in Rosslyn, Virginia, Donna. Who the hell gets hurt there?” he countered. 

“People in the company of the President of the United States, which I am not.” she said. 

“You know what? This conversation is a disaster.” Josh announced. “The only good thing that’s come out of it was me telling you I loved you.” 

“And that you missed me.” she smiled. “Don’t forget that; that was good.” 

“Right.” he laughed. 

“I miss you, too.” she said softly. 

“Call me later.” he said. 

“Kay.” she said and snapped her phone shut. 

As she walked through the terminal, dragging her suitcase behind her, she couldn’t help but think just how far they’d come since she had dated Cliff. Josh was never comfortable when Cliff was brought up. For Donna, she considered that whole time a turning point in their relationship. True, the time that came after it was strained, and then came Amy, but Donna thought that was because what they had done for each other then was pretty heady. It was the first time the underlying tension between them actually surfaced so the other could see it. 

She lied, when she should have told the truth; he covered it up, when he should have fired her. He didn’t try to cover up Leo’s drug history, though he did try to stop it from coming out; he didn’t try to buy off the photographer who took the picture of Sam and the call girl; and certainly didn’t try to make any attempts to hide the President’s M.S. But, he did lie to protect her. 

The very thought of the pain that would come for him by turning over her diary, and consequently, the pain that would come from the repercussions if the committee knew Donna had lied, were unfathomable to them both. And so they’d done what they’d done and didn’t talk about it. They didn’t have to. The actions spoke much louder than words ever could. But it was too soon to acknowledge anything like that between them. They’d barely gotten through his recovery, which was extremely emotional, when that happened. 

If she was ever unsure over the years about how he had really felt about her, and she was many times, she needed only to take a step back and look at his actions towards her and she got her reassurance. It was all she needed to continue to wait it out. And it’s exactly what she had done, and it had been worth it. 

TBC


	19. In the Aftermath

“That’s where I sit.” Donna said to Sam as they were climbing into the back of the Suburban. 

“We have assigned seating?” Sam asked scrunching up his forehead. He looked over at Josh who was watching the exchange with interest. 

“I sit in that seat. I have to sit in that seat.” Donna insisted. 

Sam shrugged and slid to the other end of the bench. Giving Sam a shaky, grateful smile, Donna climbed into the Suburban to take Sam’s place in the rear driver’s side seat. Josh cocked his head to the side and studied her curiously, but chose not to say anything. 

“What?” she asked irritably when she noticed him looking at her. 

“Nothing.” he said quickly. “You look kind of tired.” 

“Thank you, Joshua. I missed you, too.” she snapped then propped her elbow on the handrest of the door and rested her chin on her hand, looking out the window. 

Josh looked over to Sam and motioned for them to switch places. When he was by her side, he nudged her gently. “What’s the matter?” he asked softly. 

“Nothing.” she mumbled. 

“Donna, what’s going on?” he prodded. 

“Nothing’s going on, Josh.” she replied. 

“Didn’t things go well in Texas?” 

“Yes.” Donna said. “Helen was very nice. We had a nice time.” 

“So, what’s with the crappy mood?” 

She slammed her hand down and turned to glare at him. “Do I ALWAYS have to be in a good mood, Josh? Are you the only one that’s allowed to brood? It’s a little draining constantly being the nice one.” 

“I would imagine.” he said with raised eyebrows. 

When she saw the shock in his eyes, she sighed. “I’m sorry.” she said as the fight deflated out of her. “I’m just tired. I didn’t sleep well while I was in Texas.” 

“Miss me?” He smirked. 

“That must have been it.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes, and he could tell she was being evasive. 

“Well, we can sleep in a real bed tonight.” he said. “That’ll be nice.” 

“Yeah.” she sighed. “Listen, do you mind if I skip the Hill? You and Sam can easily handle the stem cell vote stuff, and I’d just as soon start picking up all the mail and all that.” 

“Yeah, okay.” Josh said nodding his head in agreement. He wasn’t going to say it, but, in fact, he thought it was a fantastic idea. They were sure to run into Cliff, and he’d just as soon not have to deal with that. “We’ll drop you off at home and I’ll meet you there later.” 

She smiled gratefully, and instead of looking out the window, she dropped her head onto his shoulder. He responded by kissing her forehead and squeezing her hand. Sam smiled at his friends’ interaction and looked down to the statement he was working on on the stem cell vote. He was always moved by how sensitive Josh was to Donna. 

On the way to the airport earlier to pick her up, Josh had been railing about the lose-lose situation they were in with the stem cell vote. He complained that they shouldn’t have come back for it because Haffley would never schedule the vote anyway, and that Calley had no clue what he was doing. But the second they met Donna at the airport, the hardened political operative was gone, replaced by this man Sam could only describe as tender. He had immediately taken Donna’s suitcase and fawned over how tired she looked. 

She did look tired. She looked a little sad, too. Sam could tell they weren’t getting the full truth about Texas. He’d had a hard time imagining Mrs. Santos was the issue. The Congressman had told Sam that his wife told him she and Donna had a good time. Helen revealed that she and Donna were really hitting it off and actually becoming friends. 

Maybe that was it. Maybe Donna was missing other females on the campaign. Ronna often joined them, but usually it was just Josh, Sam, the Congressman, and Donna. It was probably a little tough being the only female constantly surrounded by males. Deciding that must be it, Sam went back to his work. 

Sam waited in the car while Josh and Donna went up to their apartment with their suitcases. After about ten minutes, Josh returned to the car. 

“What do you think of this language?” Sam began. 

“She doesn’t look good.” Josh said as they began to pull away. “And what was the deal with the seat?” 

“I don’t know.” Sam shrugged. “Maybe she just prefers that spot.” 

“She doesn’t ALWAYS sit in that spot though.” Josh said. 

“I have no idea.” Sam shrugged. 

“She just looks really tired.” 

“Well, we’ll be here overnight, so you can make sure she goes to bed early.” Sam assured. 

“Yeah.” Josh said. Sam decided to wait to run the statement by him. He was obviously distracted. When they got to the Hill, they ran into Cliff in the lobby. The tension in Josh instantly increased, but he remained polite, partly because Sam did all the talking. 

Luckily, it wasn’t long before they were interrupted by Matt Skinner. 

“Josh!” Matt called walking up to them, and the conversation of the Republican outwitting was immediately dropped. Josh and Matt were friends, but not everybody standing there trusted everybody. 

“Hey, Matt, how’s it going?” Josh greeted. 

“It’s all right. You?” Matt replied. 

“Campaign trail life.” Josh shrugged. 

“Yeah, you look like it, too.” Matt laughed. 

“Gee, thanks.” 

“Hi Sam.” Matt greeted. 

“Congressman.”Sam nodded, not having the same relationship with him that Josh did. 

“Listen,” Matt said, turning back to Josh. “I was hoping I’d run into you here today. I have something for Donna. I didn’t want to just mail it.” 

“Donna?” Josh asked confused. 

“Yeah.” Matt pulled a thick manilla envelope out of his briefcase and handed it to Josh. 

“What is it?” 

“It’s the investigative report into the CODEL bombing.” Matt said quietly. 

Josh froze and his gaze shot up to Matt’s. “Really?” he asked in a shaky voice, damning himself for letting the Matt and Cliff see the weakness. “I didn’t realize you guys were investigating it.” 

“Of course.” Matt replied. “It was our people that got attacked.” 

“But she didn’t talk to you guys.” Josh replied. 

“Well, she talked to the UN, the Israelis, and the FBI, and told them all she remembered was getting in the car and then waking up in Germany. We didn’t think she was going to tell us any different. But, all the victims and the victims’ families get copies of the report.” Matt explained, gesturing to the envelope in Josh’s hands. 

“Oh.” was all Josh could respond. He opened the envelope and peered inside. 

“Listen, before you look at it, Josh.” Matt said. “You should know it’s extremely detailed and thorough. There are pictures.” 

“Oh, really?” 

“Well, yeah.” Matt said. “They’re about half way through it. I don’t know if Donna will ever want to read it, or if you will...well, who am I kidding, that’s just the sadistic self-torture you do, of course you’ll read it. Just be forewarned. There are pictures and they’re graphic.” 

“Of Donna?” Josh whispered. 

“Of all of them.” Matt replied. “Anyway, like I said, I didn’t just want to mail it and her get it without prior warning.” 

“Thanks, Matt.” Josh managed to say, then Matt walked away. 

“Well, that’ll ruin your day.” Cliff noted a little uncomfortably. 

“Josh, don’t read it.” Sam warned. 

“I have to.” Josh said quietly. 

“It’s only going to freak you out.” 

“I have to know what happened to her.” 

“You do.” Sam reminded. “You know what happened. You know she got hurt. You flew to Germany. Things are good now. Don’t do this to yourself or to her.” 

“I won’t tell her I have it.” 

“Josh, this is a recipe for disaster.” Sam insisted. “This is one of those things that you think is harmless enough, then blows up in your face, and then you get pissed at me for not warning you about it. There are pictures. You do not need those images in your mind.” 

“Yeah.” Josh said absently. “Listen, you got this covered, right?” 

“Josh.” 

“I’ll catch up with you later.” 

Before Sam could protest further, Josh walked away. He headed straight for their apartment. He knew that Donna was out and running errands. She had plans to go to the post office and pick up mail, go to the dry cleaners, go to the supermarket, and a host of ten other things that she wanted to accomplish during their brief stint home, so he knew he could read it a bit without interruption, and stash it somewhere if she came home unexpectedly. 

He went home, got changed, and settled himself in the office with a beer and started reading through the report. It was all so... 

Official. 

Donnatella Moss. Female. Senior Assistant to Deputy Chief of Staff Joshua Lyman. 32 years old. 

There were witness accounts, interviews, medical reports, briefings on the entire trip. Matt was right. It was thorough. 

There were even details of where everyone was sitting in the car. 

Donna was in the rear driver’s side seat. Things started to fall into place for Josh. She didn’t HAVE to always sit in that seat, she had to sit in that seat in a Suburban. The paramedic report said they had to cut the seatbelt off to free her. She had been the only one in the car wearing it, which was probably why she was the only one that survived. But Josh suspected she thought somewhere in the back of her mind that if she hadn’t been sitting there, she’d be dead like the others. 

He skimmed through the reports on the other car occupants. After all, at the moment, he was only interested in what specifically happened to Donna when he turned the page and there were the pictures. Going through the report, he had completely forgotten they were in there. And, of course, she was the first picture. It was a black and white photo of her upside down, bleeding and unconscious. 

He was completely captivated by her. His fingers gently ran over the image of her face. He remembered the sound of her voice when they pulled her out of the car clear as a bell. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. 

Until he heard the front door open. 

He quickly stuck the report in the filing cabinet, making a mental note to move it to a more secure place later, so she wouldn’t stumble across it, rubbed the tears away that he didn’t realize had pooled up in his eyes, and went to greet her. 

“Hey.” he said through a voice that sounded like he swallowed rocks. 

“What are you doing here?” she asked as he relieved her of some of the shopping bags. 

“Sam’s handling the thing.” he said. “I figured I’d come back here and help you.” 

“Really?” she asked surprised. 

“Well, I haven’t seen you in almost a week.” he said indignantly, suppressing the urge to grab her, and pull her into his arms and hold on for dear life. 

“You missed me?” she smiled coyly. 

“I told you I did.” 

“Yes, but you’re acting...” 

“What?” 

“A little weird.” 

“You sound like you’re feeling better.” He noted changing the subject. 

She shrugged and began to unpack the groceries she bought from the store. Mostly she bought non perishable things and stuff they could freeze for the next time they were home. 

“So did you not sleep well while you were in Texas?” he hedged. 

“Not really.” she shrugged. “I guess I’m just so used to sleeping next to you.” 

“But you and Helen got along well?” 

“Oh yeah.” Donna smiled. “She’s great. We got along great.” 

In truth, Donna had found something of a kindred spirit in Helen Santos. They had both been around politics for years, but both felt a little lost in the sea of the inner workings. Josh and Sam gave Donna a lot of responsibility on the campaign, and she was terrified of letting them down; Helen was terrified of saying the wrong thing to press and torpedoing her husband’s campaign. Where Donna knew the workings of what was going to be expected of Helen on the campaign and in the White House if they won, Helen had the experience of already being married to a politician and how they balanced that with a family. 

They swapped stories, drank wine, ate popcorn and laughed like old friends. Donna hadn’t realized how much she missed being around another female. CJ was probably her closest female friend, or so she thought. While Donna certainly got along with the other assistants in the White House, she was never really like them. They certainly never understood her and Josh’s close friendship. Donna had always felt more comfortable around the senior staff. Ronna was nice, but she wasn’t around often. 

“That’s good.” he nodded. “She’s sort of...drifting.” 

“I know the feeling.” Donna said. 

“You do?” Josh frowned taking a few steps toward her. 

“I’m a girl, Josh.” Donna smiled. “Sometimes I like to talk to other girls.” 

“I see no girls here.” he said coming up and wrapping his arms around her from behind. He dropped a kiss on her neck and she sighed, leaning back against him and closing her eyes. “Just one amazingly delicious woman.” 

“God help me.” she groaned, as her hand slid up into his hair. “I actually really did miss you.” 

“I won’t let it go to my head.” 

“Well, that’s not likely to happen.” 

“Four nights is a long time, Donna.” 

“Tell me about it.” She turned in his arms, and he continued to kiss along her neck. 

“And we’re at home, with our own bed.” he continued, pulling them gently in the direction of the bedroom. 

“Mmm...our own bed sounds nice.” 

“How about a bath?” he asked stopping abruptly outside the bathroom. 

“I think I’m more interested in the bed.” she replied huskily. 

“As usual, I live to serve.” 

After reading that report and seeing those pictures, he was anxious to get his hands on her, hold her in his arms and hear her heartbeat. When she survived, he had finally felt like he beat death. It didn’t get Donna like it had all the others he had lost. And when he saw the pictures, he was reminded of how precariously close he had come. But he had gotten the second chance with her and he hadn’t wasted it. 

Not surprisingly, later that evening her nightmare woke him out of a dead sleep, not with a scream, but with a violent gasp. She was sweating, breathing heavily and shaking. She wasn’t that responsive to him verbally, but she was physically responsive to him. He gathered her in his arms and whispered to her until she calmed down, just like she’d done to him in the past. It was certainly interesting to be on the other end of it. Likewise unsurprising was that she didn’t want to talk about it. He desperately wanted her to, but he never did when he had a nightmare. She’d only experienced his a handful of times, but he never talked about them. 

And so he held her tightly and soothed her back to sleep and another nightmare didn’t come that evening. 

At least not for her. 

TBC


	20. In the Aftermath

“Hey, Sam.” Josh greeted into his cell phone, getting on the elevator at the Santos for America headquarters. 

“Are you on your way here?” 

“Yeah, I’m in the elevator. What’s up?” 

“We’re crafting our statement. Otto and Bram wanted to run it by you.” Sam said. 

“Number one, statement for what; number two, run it by me? This is your area of expertise.” 

“Ferrad.” 

“Ferrad?” Josh asked confused. “Ferrad who? What are you talking about?” 

“Chairman Ferrad had a stroke yesterday. He’s dead.” Sam said. 

Josh paused for a moment and then fell the short distance back against the elevator. “Wow.” 

“Yeah.” Sam said simply. “There’s a lot of rioting going on over there.” 

The elevator doors opened and Josh stepped off and into the offices. There was evidence everywhere of their large budget now. New computers and office equipment, offices with new equipment, signs, many phone lines, and a ton of people Josh had no clue who they were. “I’m here.” he said, and snapped his phone shut, moving to the conference room where he saw everyone gathered. 

There was a small gathering around the conference room table. Everyone’s eyes were on the television there, but they moved to Josh when he came in. He turned his attention to the television and his eyes widened at the footage he saw. 

“What the hell is this?” he demanded to the room at large. 

“Well,” Sam said quietly. “They’re covering Chairman Ferrad’s death. The last great thing he did was participate in the peace talks, which were a direct result from...” Sam trailed off and gestured to the television that was currently showing footage from the CODEL bombing. 

“Where’s Donna?” Josh asked quietly. 

“In her office.” Bram answered. 

“Did she see this?” Josh demanded a little more forcefully. 

“Well, yeah.” Otto responded. “We were all in here when CNN broke the story.” 

“And nobody shut it off?” Josh barked to the room, and no one responded. He took his time gazing at the green staff before his gaze fell on Sam. 

“I wasn’t in here at the time.” Sam said. “I went to check on her, and she said she was fine.” 

Josh turned back to the room and looked at the staffers assembled there. “If she’s in there crying, someone’s getting fired.” he said simply, then turned to and left the conference room, heading straight for Donna’s office. 

The room’s occupants were silent, all eyes fell on Sam. “He’s not serious.” Sam said. “Except he kind of is.” 

Congressman Santos entered the room there and looked over at the television, than at Sam. “Is Donna all right?” he asked, being much more perceptive than his staff. 

“I think so. Josh is with her.” Sam nodded, his chest swelling with pride at the man they were trying to elect President. The Congressman knew the impact this had on them and he’d remembered Donna’s experience that day. 

“We’re just trying to craft your statement now, sir.” Otto piped up. 

The Congressman turned to the room at large with a look of minor disbelief on this face. “Craft my statement?” he repeated. “Am I not saying we join the President in sending his condolences to the people of Palestine and urge their people to honor the peace agreement Chairman Ferrad worked so hard to negotiate? Am I actually saying something different than that?” 

“Um...no.” Otto said softly. “I think that about covers it.” 

“I would think.” Santos said before leaving the room. 

Sam stood at the head of the room, hands on his hips with his lips pursed. He hurt then for his friends. He knew Donna wasn’t fine, but she wouldn’t have wanted to break down in front of Sam. She’ll do it in front of Josh though. 

“We didn’t know it was the same Donna Moss.” Bram finally said. 

“Really?” Sam asked unconvinced. “Tell me something. Is there a single person in this room that didn’t know Josh left his job as Deputy Chief of Staff to President Bartlet to run this campaign?” He continued when no one responded. “Now, CNN said that the sole survivor of that bombing was Donna Moss, Senior Assistant to the White House Deputy Chief of Staff. You tell me. How hard is the math there to put THAT one together?” The staff looked properly contrite. “This is a campaign for the presidency. It’s a battle of wits, strategy and intelligence. We need to outsmart, outwit, out power, and out maneuver the Republicans. To do that, we need smart people. If that is not you, you will not last here. To survive in politics, you need to be perceptive. THIS,” Sam said gesturing forcefully to the television, “wasn’t that hard to figure out.” 

“We should have shut it off.” Bram said. 

“Yeah.” Sam agreed. 

“You know,” Lou said finally finding a voice. “I’m not a totally unfeeling person here, Sam, but sometimes we have to put aside personal feelings and actually deal with painful stuff. Donna can’t come unglued in the White House.” 

Sam turned his glare then on Lou. “Donna worked in the White House for seven years, Lou. You’ve never worked there. She worked there when we were shot at at Rosslyn and the President and Josh were shot, when the President revealed he had M.S. and she had to testify before Congress, she worked there when the Vice President resigned, when Zoe was kidnapped, when the budget caused a government shutdown and any number of other extremely stressful situations and she never ONCE came unglued. You’d be hardpressed to find a single person in that building that would say she didn’t handle every situation with a calm and cool head, Lou.” 

Not wanting to be part of the conversation any longer himself, Sam turned and likewise left the room. He found himself walking over to Donna’s office and knocking gently on the door before poking his head in. Donna was sitting back in her chair and Josh was standing a few feet away from her, leaning up against the bookcase. Sam could immediately feel the tension in the room. 

“You all right?” Sam asked Donna first. 

“Yes, I’m fine.” She said in a voice that Sam knew she was clearly placating. 

“I yelled at the staff.” Sam said, turning his attention to Josh. 

“Good.” Josh said with a shrug. 

“No.” Donna said. “Not good. Guys, I’m all right. This stuff is going to come up and you can’t take it out on the staff.” 

“Yeah, it is going to come up.” Josh agreed. “But, it also fell ironically enough the same week as the one year anniversary of that bombing. Donna, the one year anniversary of the shooting, you turned off all the televisions in the bullpen and practically cleared my schedule.” 

“That’s different.” 

“No, it’s not.” 

“Well, I think this is my cue then.” Sam said. “I just wanted to make sure you were all right.” 

“Oh, I’m fine.” Donna said shooting Josh a glare. 

Sam disappeared from the room and there were several moments of charged silence in the office. 

“I’m fine.” she said to Josh again. 

“Why don’t you just talk to someone and be sure?” he pleaded. “You’ve had nightmares --” 

“I had nightmares after the shooting, too, and I wasn’t even there.” 

“When you get in a Suburban, you have to sit in a specific spot.” 

“I do not.” she said. She honestly looked surprised by that fact. 

“Donna, you sit in the rear driver’s side seat in every Suburban we get in. In fact, you nearly took Sam’s head off for it once.” Josh argued. 

“I think you’re reading too much into that.” Donna said shaking her head. 

“Donna, I’m not saying you’re cracking up or anything.” Josh said more calmly. “It’s just you’ve never talked to anyone about it --” 

“I talked to you.” 

“And you always can, but I’m not a professional.” he reasoned. “You should just talk it out with someone. That’s all I’m saying.” 

“You don’t understand what happened, Josh.” Donna began. 

“I know exactly what happened, Donna.” he said softly. 

“You do?” she asked totally unconvinced. “And how do you figure that one, Kreskin, you were on the other side of the planet at the time.” 

“I read the Congressional report, which was extremely detailed.” 

“That what?” 

“Congress did an investigation. Matt Skinner gave me the report to give to you.” 

“When the hell was that?” she demanded. 

“A couple of months ago.” 

“And you’re hiding it from me?” 

“I wasn’t hiding it from you.” he replied. “I was just looking for a good opportunity to give it to you.” 

“And when do you think that is, Josh?” she demanded heatedly. “My birthday? Where the hell is it?” 

“It’s at home.” 

“I want it.” 

“Donna...” he began with a sigh. 

“You can’t protect me from everything, Josh. This happened to me. I want to know what the damn report says.” 

“It says you almost died!” he snapped at her and air was charged again. “And it’s got pictures of you almost dead, too. Do you want to see them? It’s also got pictures of the other victims, too.” 

“I didn’t die.” she said in a voice that lacked feeling. “I didn’t die. I don’t know why, but I didn’t. And these nightmares and anxious feelings, Josh, serve as my reminder that I didn’t die. What happens when they’re gone?” 

“You live your life, Donna.” he replied. “You’re not dead because you were wearing your seatbelt. They had to cut it off of you to get you out of the car. That’s all there is to it. I looked for those same answers. How did that bullet not kill me? It didn’t kill me because the surgeons at GW showed up for class.” 

“You don’t think it wasn’t my time? Or your time?” 

“Obviously, it wasn’t, but I think it was science, Donna.” he said. “You remember when I did all that reading on theoretical physics and string theory and all of that?” 

“Yeah.” Donna said slowly. “You were, like, obsessed with it.” 

“Because I thought it had answers. I thought that it could tell me I was alive because of the angle of the bullet entry, how fast it was traveling, or the amount of actual blood loss, but it was because of a brilliant team of surgeons. Plain and simple.” 

She sat there and pondered his words, and how emotional he was. Clearly, she wasn’t the only one affected by what was happening. 

“We don’t always have the answers, Donna.” he continued quietly. “I learned that the hard way. Sometimes we just have the aftermath and we have to pick up and go from there. I’ll probably never know exactly why. Maybe it’s you. Maybe you’re why I’m alive. I thought of you then.” 

“I thought of you, too.” she said softly. 

“I know.” he nodded. “You told me.” 

“I did?” she asked cocking her head to the side. 

“I also talked to you after they got you out of the car. You were delirious.” 

“I don’t remember.” 

“I’m not surprised.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“For?” 

“Worrying you like that. It couldn’t have been easy for you to hear me like that.” 

“It was wonderful, Donna. Hearing your voice...alive...for a brief second, there was light.” 

She looked down at her desk and he watched her. She sighed heavily and looked back up at him. “Fine.” she said. “I’ll talk to someone. If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll talk to someone. But only if you come with me.” 

“I wouldn’t be anywhere else.” 

TBC


	21. In the Aftermath

Donna walked into the Green Room of the White House and sized up the room. Since Margaret had come to find her at the wedding and told her CJ wanted to see her, she thought this was an odd choice of places to talk. CJ stood in the middle of the room, not yet aware of Donna’s presence. Donna took a moment to take in her appearances. She looked tired. She looked tired, sad, and much like a woman who took on too much. Donna thought that CJ bore a striking resemblance to what Donna herself looked like right after she discovered how hard working for Josh actually was and everything that came with it. 

When she thought about everything she didn’t know then and how overwhelming it all was to her, she thought she wished she had thought about that before she left the White House. She was so pissed and so upset, and Josh was beyond pissed, that she had never stopped to consider what her supposed friend was going through. Never once had Donna gone to CJ’s new office to see how things were going for her, never once had she given her friend a sympathetic ear. She was so wrapped up in her recovery and Josh that everything else fell by the wayside. 

Now, standing in the Green Room, she thought that she had turned out to be just as crappy of a friend as she thought CJ had been. Where did those women of before go? She and CJ used to share rooms on the campaign trail and talk well into the early morning hours, giggle in the hotel bar over CJ’s Grasshopper and Donna’s Rusty Nail at the boys, and how pathetic Mandy was in her continued quest for Josh. CJ had once been her partner in crime and she had never treated Donna like just an assistant. 

“I was just thinking that I should have brought a Grasshopper with me.” Donna said, finally announcing her presence. “It looks like you could use one.” 

“I haven’t had a Grasshopper in years.” CJ replied. “I could use several.” 

“You’ve been mostly absent from the party.” 

“There’s something going on and it’s best for me to fly under the radar right now. There’s too many people lurking in that room with too many questions.” CJ explained. 

“Thus the Green Room.” Donna nodded. 

“Well, I mean, who the hell would look for me here? I think this might be the first time I’ve ever actually been IN this room.” 

“Yeah, me too.” Donna smiled. “You know, we could have used the Map Room. That was used as the Situation Room during World War II.” 

“Yeah, looks it.” CJ joked. 

“Can you believe it?” Donna smiled gently. “They probably actually rolled out maps.” 

“Those are probably the only actual paper maps in the building.” CJ said. 

A silence fell between the two women and though it wasn’t all that comfortable, it wasn’t fraught with tension either. 

“Listen, Donna...” 

“You don’t have to CJ.” 

“I want to.” 

“Well, okay then.” 

“I said awful things the night of that lockdown before you left.” CJ began. “You’ve always been like a little sister to me, and all I saw was this crush you had on Josh, and I hated to see you hold yourself back because of it. I’d seen the way he’s been to you over the years, attentive and seemingly interested one minute, and the next he’s dating Amy Gardner. It made me think of me and Danny. I realized that’s the way I am to Danny and eventually it drove him away, and I was trying to misdirect those feelings of hurt and shame into a relationship with Ben. I was Josh.” 

Donna was a little surprised by CJ’s impassioned diatribe. She had expected an apology, but this was a bit more than she had thought was coming. 

“When you were hurt...Donna, he was out of his mind. He freaked out outside the Oval Office and I was scared for him. There was no question in anyone’s mind then that he was in love with you. He just looked absolutely destroyed. I realized then that he wanted you as much as you wanted him, and it seemed like a crime to me that two people who should so obviously be together, couldn’t because of their jobs. I wasn’t trying to be malicious. I was just thinking I couldn’t fix me and Danny, but Josh didn’t have to be that. I could fix it for Josh so he didn’t have to feel the way I was feeling. 

“After you left, I realized I should have asked you about it first. You were my friend and if I truly you saw you as a little sister, I should have talked to you first. You guys were so different when you came back. You seemed....peaceful. But then I remembered how well things had gone the last time I asked you about it....” CJ drifted off and Donna chuckled. She smiled that CJ’s humor seemed to still be in there somewhere. “Anyway, Donna, I truly am very sorry. I never meant to hurt you, and I really miss my friend...well, friends, but don’t tell Josh he’s included in that.” 

“Well, as it turns out, you’re not the only one that should be apologizing.” Donna replied. 

“I’m not?” CJ asked surprised. “What did you do?” 

“I wasn’t a good friend.” Donna replied. “I’m glad that you advanced in your career, CJ, but I was pissed it wasn’t Josh’s. I’m also pissed that I didn’t come talk to my big sister. CJ, Josh and I were together when we came back, and we had no clue what we were going to do about work. We just sort of ignored it. I really wanted to talk to you then and tell you about it, but we had no plan, and I didn’t want you to think we were taking advantage of you being in that job to, like, muscle this relationship on you. I was physically spent, emotionally spent, and so, I just let Josh take the lead. I do that a lot with him, I guess.” 

“You’re lucky you can.” CJ smiled sadly. “Sometimes it’s nice to just sit back and be the helpless girl and let the strong man fight the battles.” 

“Especially with one that loves to fight so much like Josh.” Donna nodded chuckling. 

“Friends again?” CJ offered. 

“Friends again.” Donna accepted. 

“That’s was beautiful!” Margaret cried coming into the room, and CJ rolled her eyes. Margaret was always lurking somewhere. She was going to admonish her assistant for eavesdropping again, when she saw she carried drinks. 

“Margaret, are those for us?” CJ asked pointing to her hands and with her eyes wide. 

“Uh-huh.” Margaret nodded handing each woman a glass. “Grasshopper for CJ and Rusty Nail for Donna.” 

“Margaret, you really are the best assistant on the planet.” CJ cooed and Margaret beamed. “Go enjoy the party for a bit and bring us two more of these in about 20 minutes.” 

Margaret nodded and left the room. CJ closed the door to the room and gestured to Donna to join her for a drink in the room. 

“This was originally a dining room.” Donna said. 

“Oh please, don’t start.” CJ groaned dramatically dropping her forehead to her hand. 

“That’s silk fabric on the walls.” 

“That’s just ridiculous and over the top I think.” 

“President Monroe used it as a card room.” 

“And we’re using it as a secret drinking room.” CJ chuckled. 

“Our very own White House speak easy.” Donna laughed and CJ joined her. 

“What the hell do you think that thing is?” CJ asked pointing to a rather odd contraption on a table near the fireplace. 

“Beats the hell out of me.” Donna shrugged. “There are two them.” 

“Looks like a lamp.” 

“There’s no plug or bulb.” 

“I say it’s an old lamp.” CJ said. “It’s got a wick and a mirror.” 

“That was probably pretty ingenious at the time, huh.” Donna said. “Hey, we could ask Bernard.” 

“Oh, hell no!” CJ laughed dropping down into an 18th century English arm chair with an unladylike thud. Donna continued to explore the room, while CJ took a sip from her drink. “How’s the campaign going?” 

“Josh and Sam think they’re going to get fired tonight.” 

“The Congressman’s an idiot if he does that.” 

“I don’t know what’s going on, something about screwing up Illinois. Barry Goodwin’s telling the Congressman to let them go and have Leo finish it up.” 

“Barry Goodwin is a fat old man who’s never worked a campaign in his life. If the Congressman does that, he’s a toad and I won’t vote.” CJ said with finality. “It’s not like Josh and Sam haven’t done this before, and didn’t take the Congressman from obscurity to within grabbing distance of the presidency.” 

“I think you should tell him that, CJ.” Donna laughed. 

“I will. Give me a few more Grasshoppers and I will. There’s got to be SOMETHING good about this job.” 

“You’re on Wikipedia.” 

“I was on Wikipedia before.” 

“It’ll fall into place, CJ.” Donna said. 

“When? The day we leave office?” 

“Probably.” Donna nodded. “I’ve never been Chief of Staff, CJ, but I have been in a job where I felt like I was drowning. You’ll find your sea legs with it.” 

CJ smiled appreciatively as the door opened. They expected it to be Margaret again, but this time it was Josh, and he was bearing three drinks. He had intercepted Margaret in the hall, who had immediately told him the contents of Donna and CJ’s conversation. 

“Getting tanked, ladies?” he smirked. “Think that’s best, CJ, with whatever is going on downstairs?” 

“Drinking heavily will only improve my skills, mi amore.” CJ said waving her drink over. Donna rolled her eyes at CJ’s drama. 

“What are you ladies talking about?” 

“Did you get fired?” Donna shot off. 

“No.” Josh said taking a sip of his drink. 

“We were talking about your wedding.” CJ said mischievously. Josh spit his drink right back out. 

“CJ!” Donna shrieked. “No, we weren’t, Josh.” 

“You should.” Josh said after a moment. 

“What!?” Donna yelped. 

“You should talk about it. Clear us a week after the election and let’s go get married.” Josh said simply. 

“Me Josh.” CJ said in her best caveman voice. “Me marry Donna.” Josh rolled his eyes as Donna gaped at him. 

“You’re kidding me.” Donna said. 

“Yeah, because you wouldn’t kick my ass for that.” he replied. 

“You’re serious?” 

“Yeah. Do it after the election. We’ll do something really small, have CJ and Sam there as witnesses then go off on vacation.” 

“That’s romantic.” CJ sighed. 

“That’s insane!” Donna countered. “Our parents will kill us.” 

“They’ll get over it as soon as it sinks in that we’re married.” Josh countered. “Or did you want something big like this?” 

“No.” Donna found herself saying. “This is a bit grand for me.” 

“All I need is you, Donna.” Josh shrugged. “You do it however you want.” 

“Aww!” CJ said. 

“What the hell is the matter with you?” Josh asked her. 

“Shut up, Joshua. I work with a bunch of fat old men that hate me, and sometimes I just want to be a freaking girl, all right?” 

“Sorry.” 

“So, we’re doing this?” Donna asked him. 

“We’re doing this.” he smiled and the smile Donna gave him back could power up the White House. 

“Why am I not surprised you two decided to get married in 30 seconds over drinks?” CJ smiled. 

“Because it’s us.” Donna smiled, her gaze still locked with her fiance’s. 

TBC


	22. In the Aftermath

"I've known Leo all my life. He and my father met back in law school. My father was a democrat, but oh, he loved getting Leo's Irish up. They'd argue and argue and argue. My father usually agreed with Leo's positions, but since he was a trial lawyer, and a pretty good one, it was pretty easy for him to take the other side of an argument and argue it just as passionately as one he actually believed in." 

Josh and Donna sat in the Residence of the White House with President Bartlet, CJ, Sam, Charlie, Abbey and Margaret, and the President and First Lady Elect. The reception was over as far as they were concerned and now everyone was sharing Leo stories. It was Josh's turn and as expected, the room's occupants were ensnared in Josh's memories. Josh and Leo didn't always see eye to eye, as is typical with fathers and sons, but Josh always respected him. 

"He's why I'm here today. He's why I became a politician and not a lawyer. I never told him, but I did figure out that he helped me along the way and didn't let me know. House manager to the majority   
whip? I wasn't even 30 yet. Nobody like me gets that job. But it was one of the best learning experiences of my life. He taught me never to overplay my hand, which I do anyway. It was a lesson I didn't actually learn well. He taught me never to let on when I had the upper hand." 

"A lesson you HAVE learned well." Sam chimed in. 

"I learned the most just by watching him. One day, out of the blue, he came to me and asked me to go to New Hampshire to hear a dark horse candidate speak. He was asking, but it wasn't a favor, it was an order, and just as he said, `it's what sons do for old friends   
of their fathers,' and so, I did, completely expecting to see a waste of time." 

"You actually said that to me." Sam smiled to Josh. 

"I always knew that you had confidence in me right from the start, Josh." the President droned. "It just warms my heart." 

"Not right from the start." Josh replied with a smirk. "There was the train ride up there, sir." 

"Oh, well. I'm glad I won you over in the end." the President deadpanned and the room chuckled. 

"So I went to hear this unknown Governor speak, and he wasn't saying anything I hadn't heard before. He wasn't saying anything that made me think he could take Hoynes in the primaries, who I was already working for." Josh paused and was vaguely aware of Donna next to him, idly stroking his shoulder, always offering silent comfort and support when he needed it. "To this day, I can't remember the question. But I'll never forget the answer." 

"Piss off the dairy farmers." the President laughed. "Oh, that one caused problems!" 

"`Yeah, I screwed you on that one,' this liberal academic from New Hampshire says, `You got hosed. I voted against a bill because I didn't want to make it harder for people to buy milk. If that angers you, I respect that, but if you expect different from the President of the United States, you should vote for somebody else.'" Josh finished. "I thought, God, if anyone knew who this guy was, he'd be tanking his campaign right now." The President and Abbey chuckled in response. "But that's what I wasn't hearing from Hoynes. John Hoynes was pandering to everyone and Jed Bartlet was pandering to himself. 

"Leo came up to me after everyone had cleared out and introduced me to Toby then walked away. Toby and I talked for a little while and he told me that he was the mastermind behind that answer. I said, `why the hell did you tell him to do that?' He said, `If he tells the truth, he won't have to think fast to remember who he told what.' I said, `How many campaigns have you won?' He said, `None.' Then, he went on to tell me about how he didn't have any national campaign experience, then he went on tell me about CJ and how he was going to bring her on for press, and she didn't have any national experience, then, I thought of Sam, who I already knew Leo would want as soon as I told him, and Sam didn't have any national experience, and I thought, what the hell was Leo thinking? Who the hell are we? 

"When we took the nomination, I thought, we'll never take the Republicans. We're gutsy, we're ballsy, but we're inexperienced. We got where we were on sheer bravado. When we won the election, I realized I still had a lot to learn from Leo McGarry, and if at the end of my career I had learned half of what he knew, I could be proud of myself. He could be proud of me." 

"Oh, he always was, Josh." Jed assured. "Even before I'd met you, I had heard about you. You reminded Leo a lot of himself with that bravado. You were the son he never had and his political legacy. I think you're going to find, you learned a lot more from him than you think you did." 

The room was quiet for a few moments before the President rose and called it a night. Donna waited for Josh just outside the Residence entrance as the President stopped Josh on his way out. When he emerged, he looked a little dazed. 

"What was that all about?" Donna asked as he linked his hand with hers. 

"Passing of the torch, I think." 

"That was a nice tribute you just gave him." 

"I guess." Josh shrugged. 

"You want to go somewhere before we go home?" Donna asked as they moved towards the back entrance where the First Family came and went, hoping to avoid the stragglers at the reception. 

"Where?" 

"I don't know." she shrugged. "We could just walk around if you want." 

"It's November. It's freezing." 

"Okay." Donna said quickly. "You're in this zone right now. I'm just trying to figure out what you need." 

"You always know what I need." He said quietly as they came upon his car. 

"I spent years trying everything I could to see what stuck." Donna replied, as they got into the car and Josh warmed it up. 

"You didn't have to put that much effort into it, Donna. All I needed was you. All I ever need is you." 

She leaned forward and kissed him tenderly and smiled softly. "Me too." She settled back into her seat and then looked straight out the windshield. "Everything else is crap." 

Josh dropped his head against the steering wheel and laughed. She could deny it all she wanted, but she DID always know what he needed. 

TBC


	23. In the Aftermath

“Josh, for crying out loud, stop fidgeting so much!” CJ barked. 

“I can’t help it. Where is she?” he demanded. It was half a whine and half indignant. 

“Getting ready.” His mother answered. “She’ll be here as soon as she’s done. And might I put in my objection to her just wandering on out here when she’s ready instead of the more traditional processional --” 

“No. You may not.” Josh cut her off. “See? You said traditional. Right off the bat, that’s not us.” 

“I’ll vouch for that.” Sam replied. 

“I’m just saying, Joshua.” his mother continued. 

“Mom, I’m getting married today.” Josh reminded. 

“I know, Baby, I’m so happy. I just adore Donna.” 

“Good. Now, stop with the guilt.” 

Josh picked up his pacing of the Residence. Originally, they were going to just get married at a courthouse with just Sam and CJ, but someone, and Josh still didn’t know who precisely, let slip to President Bartlet their plans, who immediately vetoed them in favor of having the small ceremony in the Residence, with their parents in attendance, as well as the President and First Lady Elect. Since it was still going to be small like Josh and Donna wanted, and they did want their parents to be there, they went along with it. 

Evelyn Baker Lang entered the room and she made a beeline for Josh. 

“Madam Chief Justice.” He smiled in greeting. 

“Josh.” she replied. 

“Thank you for coming.” 

“Well, thank you for making me Chief Justice.” 

“The Senate made you Chief Justice, I just floated the idea to the President.” Josh replied. “And it was actually Donna’s idea, so, we can call it square.” 

“Donna’s idea?” President Bartlet asked. “I don’t remember Donna involved.” 

“I’m afraid, sir, it has something to do with my cats.” Lynn Moss announced entering the room. 

“This is one of the moments of Josh brilliance that I’m better off not knowing exactly how it came about, isn’t it?” President Bartlet chuckled. 

“Not really.” Josh shrugged. “Donna was the inspiration, just like she usually is.” 

“All right.” Came a new voice and all eyes turned to the bride. Donna was dressed in a simple, sleek, while silk, floor length dress. Her hair was pulled up and she glowed. 

Josh was immediately in motion to her and she smiled brilliantly as he approached. He took her hand and raised it to his lips. “You look more beautiful than I’ve ever seen you look before.” He whispered. 

“Thank you.” she smiled, the tears starting already. She thought he was going to lead her over to the small group, but he hastily pulled her to the other side of the room, out of the hearing of the others. 

“Josh, what’s going on?” she whispered. 

“I just...I wanted to...” he began and trailed off. 

“Josh?” 

“There’s stuff that I wanted to say to you, but I didn’t want everyone else to hear.” He rambled off. 

“Okay.” she nodded. She was a little nervous about his demeanor, but curious as to what he had to tell her outside the presence of everyone else. 

“We got off in a strange start. I feel like I’ve loved you since the day I met you.” he began. “It took me a couple of years to figure it out though. You mean everything to me, Donna, and I’m terrified I’m going to screw it up.” 

“You’re not.” she smiled, bringing her hand gently to his cheek and stroking with her thumb. 

“I just know I’m going to do something to piss you off...” 

“Well, that’s a given.” she chuckled and he frowned at her. “You can be infuriating on a good day, Josh, but I wouldn’t change anything about you. You’re amazing, and you’re wonderful to me, and brilliant, and you’ve got such a big heart, but you do tend to be impulsive and tunnel visioned and it frequently gets you in trouble, but it’s because you’re so passionate, and that passion is one of the things I love most about you.” 

“I love you.” he whispered. “I wouldn’t change anything about you either.” 

“Well, if we get the show on the road, in a couple of minutes, you can change my name.” she smiled. 

“Good idea.” He agreed quickly, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards Justice Lang. He got about five feet, stopped abruptly, and turned to kiss her. 

“Any day, Josh!” Abbey said rolling her eyes. 

Donna smiled back at him as he finally led her to stand before Justice Lang. Ten minutes later, she was Mrs. Joshua Lyman. 

The small group broke apart to toast the bride and groom. An intimate dinner was next before the newlyweds left for a week in Hawaii, before coming back to take their positions in a new administration and start a chapter in their lives. It was hard to believe the distance they’d come in what really was a short amount of time. In the aftermath of a disaster, something beautiful emerged. In the aftermath of terror, something good and pure took center stage. A good man became president, true friendship emerged, and a love was nurtured. 

THE END


End file.
